


The New World

by LunaOliver



Category: Firefly, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-05
Updated: 2013-04-25
Packaged: 2017-12-07 13:03:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/748805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaOliver/pseuds/LunaOliver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Liam Payne and his ‘Direction’ crew are going through rough times. They’re broke with no job offers in sight. So, when an illegal job opportunity comes their way, the crew has no other choice but to take it. Adding to this already very complicated situation are a couple of new passengers on board. This particular trip is going get very, very interesting…. (1D meets Firefly).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the rights to the TV series, Firefly or the movie, Serenity. Joss Whedon and (unfortunately) FOX do. I didn’t write Firefly or Serenity, Joss Whedon did. I also don’t own One Direction. This fanfiction is written for entertainment purpose only, and in no way claims to represent actual members of One Direction.

Five hundred years in the future, when Earth became no longer inhabitable, humanity left to look for another home.

A new solar system (with multiple stars and dozens of planets) was found, and ‘terraformed’ to be habitable for human life.

The central planets formed one government, called the Alliance. The outer planets were left to fend for themselves.

That is until the Alliance wanted to unify all planets under one government. The outer planets resisted, and refused to be controlled by Alliance. There was a war. The Alliance forces against the Independents (who called themselves Browncoats.) Alliance won, and all the planets became unified under one government.

The story takes place in 2517, six years after the war, where the people are still dealing with ramifications of the war, living in a unified universe and trying to find some sort of normalcy.


	2. The Job

Liam Payne wasn’t a patient man by nature.

But things change. They have to. Becoming a soldier in the ‘Browncoats’ movement forced patience onto him. Taking orders without knowing exactly why, frustratingly following plans which, according to Liam, had gigantic holes and waiting what seemed like endless days for Alliance to strike, all required patience.

Now, the war was over. Had been for several years. But he still needed remember what he had learned. Too many people had come to depend on him.  So he sat, patiently, that evening in a café on Persephone Station watching ships come in and go out, unloading and loading. The same process that his ship ‘Direction’ should be going through. But it was docked, and empty with no prospective offers in sight.

He took another sip of his (now grown cold) coffee while waiting for his contact to arrive. The Feste Café was crowded beyond capacity as usual. A natural by-product of the café’s proximity to the busiest transport hub in the universe. Neither the service nor the food was any good. But the food was warm (or had been in Liam’s case) and in these times, that’s all that really mattered.

He was surrounded with loud chatter in different languages and hearty laughs. The TV screens played some popular quiz show. And the live entertainment was a young woman playing her cello softly, but no one took notice. There was thick hookah smoke everywhere. Liam was sure he’d smell it for days. It was too loud, too crowded and too smoky. And he had been waiting too long. If he hadn’t forced himself to be patient, he would have left an hour ago. But, just when Liam started to consider leaving, his contact walked through the door.

Ed was a short, red-haired unassuming young man. Someone who would be found selling children toys outside in one of the market stalls. But he was good contact or so Liam had heard. They had only met once before, the last time Liam was on Persephone. And just to setup this meeting. Liam was still unconvinced of how useful or trustworthy he was, but desperate times…

Ed quickly approached and sat down across from Liam. He wore a white thin tank with some sort of anime design on it, and baggy green pants that were torn from the bottom. White flip flops, yes, flip flops completed his bizarre outfit. He looked especially strange when compared to the rest of the café. Most people were dressed like Liam, in comfortable and functional travel clothes. Liam was wearing his usual uniform that included fitted brown pants, a plain black t-shirt and dark brown combat boots. Around his waist, he wore a black belt that had an attached holster for his revolver.

“Hi Liam!” Ed greeted him, with a wave and a bright smile on his face. Like they were childhood friends or something.

“It’s Captain Payne.” Liam replied, curtly.

“Such formality between buddies?” Ed asked, seemingly hurt.

“We are not friends.” Liam spat out. “I’ve been waiting here for two fucking hours! I’m a busy man.”

“No, you are not. That’s why you are here.” Ed reminded him cheerfully, still refusing to acknowledge Liam’s bad mood.

“Where the hell were you?” Liam demanded. But Ed was already distracted by a waiter who was bringing a tray filled with food to another table.

“Hey, HEY!” Ed yelled, trying to get the waiter’s attention.

“ED!” Liam hissed, trying to get his attention. It was of no use. The waiter and Ed had made eye contact, and Ed was busy shouting his order, his very long order, from four tables away. Once the waiter disappeared through the back doors, Ed turned his attention back to Liam.

“You got a haircut!” Ed yelled again, excitedly. Liam’s usual brown curls were gone, as he had opted to shave his head. He needed a change and thought he would look older. But it just made round brown eyes and soft features more prominent. He still looked too young to be a captain of his own ship.

“Err…yeah.” He self-consciously ran his fingers through the little hair that was growing back.

“And you are having coffee?” Ed asked, surprised.

“I had to have something, otherwise they would’ve told me to leave.” Liam would have rather not spend any coin there but he didn’t have a choice.

“But coffee?” he asked, eying the cup disgustingly and making a face.

“I like coffee. And I don’t drink tea.” Liam sighed.

“Wow. Liam, I’m not sure we can be friends if you don’t like tea.” Ed said with a frown.

“We are not friends!” Liam hissed again. “And it is Captain Payne!”

“Okay, okay.” Ed said soothingly, raising his hands as if in defeat. Then he raised his eyebrows, placed his hands down on the table, lean in and asked “But what do you call someone who setup a meeting with Badger if not a friend?”

Liam didn’t react instantly. He chewed the side of his cheek, quietly taking in Ed’s revelation. Badger? The most famous middle-man for smugglers in Persephone. It should take years for Liam to gain enough experience to even get into the vicinity of people who worked for Badger, let alone the man himself. What Ed was suggesting was nearly impossible. He didn’t let on any of his excitement or suspicion to Ed.

“Oh. So when is the meeting?” he asked softly, averting direct eye contact with Ed’s face.

“He is a busy man-”

“So am I.” Liam snapped.

“Tomorrow. Around noon” Ed sighed. Liam nodded, standing up. He put down enough coin to cover the coffee. “Meet me outside this café. We’ll walk together.” Liam nodded again. He moved past the crowd, and left without another word. Maybe this patience thing might pay off this time around.

******************************************************************************

“Badger? Really?” Dani asked, her voice filled with child-like wonder. Like she was asking about a mythical creature not a wanted criminal. Liam was back on his ship, his small crew gathered around the bridge. Dani as sitting on her pilot seat, turned away from the front window. Her feet on the chair, legs tucked in and her face rested on her knees, while her fingers wrapped and unwrapped around her beautiful curly brown hair.

Louis, Liam’s second-in-command was standing to her left, leaning against the wall, with a distant expression on his face. Niall, their quiet muscle-man was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall and his legs stretched out. And Eleanor, the ship’s mechanic, who had been the last to enter the room, was still standing near the doorway.

“Yeah, that’s what Ed said.” Liam nodded, answering Dani’s question.

“And you believe him?” Louis demanded, sounding annoyed. After a beat, “Sir?” His blue eyes stared intently at Liam. He was bit shorter and less muscular than Liam, but Liam knew that Louis was capable of a lot more than met the eye.

“We don’t have a choice now do we?” Liam said, sinking into the co-pilot seat and looking away from his crew. And avoiding Louis’s question altogether. “How many jobs have we had in the last month?”

“But we are talking about transporting goods illegally! Smuggling! We could end up in Alliance prison!” Louis muttered. Eleanor’s big brown eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the mention of prison, but she remained silent.

“And what do we do? Keep losing jobs to ships from those transport corporations? To ships with freer visas?” Niall, who was usually pretty quiet, challenged Louis’s argument. “Let’s face it. No one wants to entrust their goods with a bunch of twenty-something crew. Why would someone choose us if they can be ensured delivery by a one of those fancy ships. You know that one’s that have insurance in case your stuff got lost, and those tracking numbers and shit. Plus we don’t have any special visas to take on passengers who want to travel to those exotic planets. And well, no offensive Liam, but Direction is kind of an eyesore. When rich people travel, they want to travel in something pretty.”

There was silence following Niall’s little speech. It was all true. They were lucky to survive as long as they did. Picking up a few scrap jobs from people who were desperate enough to rely on a young crew like them. It had been easier on the outer planets, but there wasn’t enough work. So, they had moved closer and closer to the central planets, but soon realized they won’t be able to compete with the big boys. So, here they were now. Broke and desperate. They needed money, and work. Immediately.

“It could be dangerous. So, we’ll vote.” Liam offered. “All in favour of taking Badger’s job raise your hand.”

Niall’s hand went up straight away. Then Dani’s. Liam’s hand followed. Louis’s didn’t. Everyone turned towards Eleanor, who also slowly raised her hand.

“I say, fuck the Alliance. Let’s get some work.” she declared with a small smile. Dani and Niall chuckled.

“So, we go for it.” Liam sighed, getting up from the chair and exiting the bridge as Eleanor gave him way. He quietly made his way downstairs into the common room and the attached kitchen. He sat on one of stools near the kitchen counter and poured himself a drink. A luxury he felt he earned at this point. Louis appeared a few minutes later.

“How do we even know if this Ed actually knows Badger? How do we know that this isn’t a trap? Maybe it is all a setup, and when we get there…BAM! Alliance here, you are under arrest!” Louis demanded as he paced back and forth in front of Liam.

“We don’t.” Liam replied, quietly.

“You didn’t mention that back there.” Louis pointed out.

“Because, it doesn’t matter. I’m willing to take the risk.” Liam admitted. His voice growing impatient by the second.

“So, that whole vote thing was for show? You were going to go for it anyways?” Louis stopped pacing and looked directly at Liam. Liam didn’t reply. “Don’t lie to me. We’ve been through too much together.”

There was silence for half a minute as Liam finished his drink.

“Yes. It was all for show. For them. What part of the fact that we are desperate do you not understand? Did you hear Niall in there?” Liam said exasperatedly, getting up and moving from the kitchen onto a sofa in the common room. Louis started pacing again.

“We could go back. Back to outer planets. Try and get some passengers-”

Liam let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Passengers? All we can hope for are few poor families who would want to move and settle on another planet and a few school kids looking for adventure. That much money won’t last us two days. And no other passengers are interested in sailing in this piece of junk. We need this.” Liam firmly asserted.

“I don’t want be on the Alliance’s bad side. Again.” Louis said, softly, sitting down next to Liam. “Too many scars from the last time.”

“This is the new world. We lost. And we have to deal with the Alliance being part of our lives. We can’t keep running from it.” Liam replied, with much more bitterness in his voice than he anticipated. They sat quietly for a while.

Liam and Louis dealt with their defeat against the Alliance forces differently. Louis would much rather pretend it didn’t happen. He would still wear his Browncoat on the Unification Day celebrations and spit at the mention of Alliance. But he was also terrified after seeing what the Alliance had done to his home planet. Liam, on the other hand, was too numbed after the war. He just didn’t care anymore. Every inspiring book, speech, and poem he had read and believed about independence and Browncoat pride was a distant, bitter memory.

They both may have lost the war, but Louis still had faith in what the Browncoats fought for. Liam had completely lost his. Perhaps that’s why it was easier for him to deal with the Alliance more rationally than Louis.

“I’m taking Niall and Dani with me tomorrow.” Liam informed his second-in-command. Louis’s jaw dropped.

“No. No way! I’m coming.” He protested. Liam shook his head. “WHY?” Louis demanded angrily.

“Because I need Niall to show them we got at least one physically capable person that can keep things secure. And Dani is knowledgeable pilot, so they’ll know that their stuff is in good hands.” Liam clarified with a shrug.

“Still doesn’t explain why I can’t come.” Louis said, still confused.

“Because you talk too much, and can be unlikeable or obnoxious to some people. I don’t want to take any more risks.”

Louis gasped. “Unlikeable? Excuse me?”

“Well, not to me. I mean, you saved my life….but to others…” Liam’s explanation trailed off at Louis’s glare.

“Also. Why do I have to keep reminding people that I’m the CAPTAIN.” Liam asked, exasperatedly. “What I say, goes.”

“Probably because you’re only twenty-five, and look even younger. Like an innocent baby, like those newborns from those clean central hospitals.” Louis explained with a shrug.

“Shut up.”

“Aye, aye Captain. Wait, so while you are off making secret illegal deals and Eleanor is going to the junkyard to find spare parts for the ship…what am I going to do?” Louis demanded.

“I don’t know, but just stay out of trouble. Please.” Liam pleaded. He yawned and got up from the couch. “I’m off. Big day tomorrow. If it all works out, we fly. So get a good night’s sleep.”

Louis rolled his eyes “Yes, mom.”

Liam walked silently to his bunk, already excited at the prospect of leaving. He was going insane landlocked. He couldn’t wait to get back into the sky.

******************************************************************************

Liam, and Dani stood in front of the Feste Café waiting for Ed to show up. They had been waiting for forty five minutes already, and there was no sign of him. Niall had slipped away a while ago to chat with a few familiar faces he saw on the docks.

“Do you think it is a trick?” Dani asked finally. “A wild goose chase?”

“No, I think he is just late.” Liam replied. He saw that Niall was making his way back. “Where were you?” he asked as Niall approached.

“Just socialising. Not everyone is a loner like you.” Niall plainly explained. “Er….Captain.” He added sheepishly, running his hands through his blond hair.

Liam closed his eyes and leaned against the outside wall of the café. This is what he gets for being young and having a young crew. Louis, and Liam were the only twenty-five. Dani was a couple of years older. Niall had just turned twenty. Eleanor was still nineteen. _Way too lax about protocol._ _I’m their Captain, they shouldn’t talk to me like that_ he thought.

“Hello friends!” a bellowing voice interrupted his thoughts. When Liam opened his eyes, he saw Ed standing in front of them, waving. If he looked out of place yesterday, today he looked downright freakish. He was wearing what should have been grey Capri pants, but they were torn at the bottom. His white t-shirt was a couple of sizes too big for him, falling nearly to his knees. It also had some anime design on it. And he was still in his white flip-flops.

Liam sighed as Dani looked puzzled and Niall look suspicious. He ignored their expressions as he introduced them. “Ed, this is our pilot Dani and that’s Niall, our security.”

“Hi, Dani… and Niall.” Ed eyes didn’t budge from Dani. Dani narrowed her dark brown eyes at him.

“We’ve been waiting for too damn long. Let’s go.” She said, impatiently.

“Yeah, I am so sorry about that. I’m usually very punctual. But I’ve been quite busy.” Ed explained. But only to Dani. It was as if Niall and Liam were not even there. Liam rolled his eyes and Niall tried to muffle his laughter.

“How far is Badger?” Niall inquired as they started walking. Ed and Dani in front, and Liam and Niall following them.

“Not far.”

******************************************************************************

Louis decided that it was too hot to stew inside the metal prison they called Direction. So, he opened the loading doors, the doors leading upstairs into the common room and bunks doors to allow some fresh air in. Or how ever much freshness was in the air at Persephone Station docks. Still, better than nothing. He dragged a chair from the common room down onto the holding area, and placed it in front of the ship’s doors. Then, he settled down on the docks in front of the ship, with a parasol in one hand and an iced fruity drink in the other hand. He put on sunglasses, sunk himself into the chair, took a sip and relaxed.

 _Why was I so worried yesterday?_ He thought as he dozed off… _Everything is going to be alright._

It had only felt like a few minutes later when he was been shaken awake.

“I’m awake. I’m awake. Liam. I’m awake. I won’t leave Direction unattended.” Louis squeaked out. When Louis actually opened his eyes, he realized it wasn’t Liam shaking him awake, and quietly thanked the universe. Liam would’ve been _mad_ had he seen Louis asleep in front of an open wide Direction. Not that the ship could be stolen, but there was plenty of their personal belongings on it. In any case, it wasn’t Liam, but a tall, muscular blond man. He looked to be about the same age as Louis.

“I’m not Liam.” The stranger pointed out.

“Well, no shit. I can see that.” Louis gratefulness was quickly replaced by annoyance. He was quite enjoying his nap. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah, I wanted to know your prices.” The blond man replied, pointing to the ship behind Louis.

“Prices? Oh, the ship isn’t for sale.” Louis said confused.

“No, I meant….like ticket prices. Hmmm…..for people…..passengers….” the other man tried to explain, seemingly unsure of himself.

“OH!” Louis eyes widen. He sat up and took off his glasses, suddenly very interested in the conversation. _Passengers?_ He thought. They had been trying to get passengers for four days without any takers.

Louis cleared his throat. “Well, Direction here is very affordable. And we’ve got a friendly and good-looking crew as you can see.” Louis winked before continuing. “We’re also very reliable and dependable. We’ll get you where you want to go.”

“Yes, but the price…” the blond man asked again, hardly listening to Louis’s sales pitch. He was jittery for someone who was so big and tall Louis noted.

“Well, you are lucky! We’re having out annual sale. 20% off the regular ticket price.” Louis replied quickly, thinking on the spot. He tried remembering what the ticket prices on Persephone usually are.

“Every other ship has told me it would be around 80 credits per passenger.” the other guy spoke, hesitantly. That sounded about right to Louis, though on the outer planets it was a lot less.

“We can take you on for 60 credits.” Louis offered.

The blond man raised his eyebrows. He looked back at the ship. “It is a pretty old ship. I’ve negotiated it down to 60 credits with that cruise ship on the opposite end.”

 _Oh, so now he is haggling._ Louis thought, and decided to play hardball. It was clear that the man didn’t travel much, didn’t have any experience at the docks and was definitely on edge. Plus, he was clearly lying because no cruise ship would be handing out tickets for only 60 credits.

“Well, then, have fun on your cruise ship. I hear they serve some great food. Sometime, even actual grown fruit.” Louis replied, putting his sunglasses back on and sinking further into his chair. The stranger didn’t move though.

“Okay. 60 credits is fine.” Blond man replied resignedly. “There are two of us though. And my…friend would need his own space. Like one of those wings or shuttles. He likes his privacy.”

Louis nodded. There was a shuttle pod attached to the ship that hardly went used. “We’ve got a shuttle pod. But that will cost extra.” The man sighed, but nodded. “So, that would be two tickets, and the rental price of the shuttle pod?

“Plus, some baggage.” The man added quickly.

Louis raised his eyebrows. “A lot?” he asked. He wondered if they could fit in Badger’s and the guy’s stuff in the ship’s holding area.

“No, not a lot. But some.”

“Well, that will also cost you.” The man nodded in reply. Louis noted that the man went from haggling to agreeing really quickly without any protest. _He must like the privacy of the shuttle pod,_ Louis thought with a smile. _Something those cruise ships couldn’t really give them. At least not without costing a fortune._

“So, when are your scheduled to leave?” Their new passenger asked, looking at his watch.

“Well, I’m waiting for our crew to return. We’ve got some goods to transport as well. Once we load those, and have supper….I don’t know. We can leave this evening.” Louis replied. The man eyes widen.

“We can leave today?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah.” Louis said with a shrug. “Just come and bring your boyfriend before supper time.” For the first time in the conversation, the blond man actually smiled.

“Okay. Supper time. We’ll be here.” He said. “Oh, and he is not my boyfriend. More like my…boss.”

“So, you won’t be sharing the shuttle?” Louis asked, raising his left eyebrow.

He laughed. “No, not at all.”

Louis mentally noted to open up and air out one of the guest rooms for him. “But where are you heading?” he asked suddenly, mentally kicking himself for not inquiring before.

“It is a bit far out…” the man said.

“Oh, we may not have the visa-” Louis muttered, almost panicking.

“No, don’t worry about that. My boss has all the visas needed. We’ll see you at supper. Bye.” The man started walking away.

“Hey!” Louis yelled, and the other man turned around. “You never told me your name.”

“It’s Josh.” He yelled back, and then disappeared in the crowd.

*****************************************************************************

Ed led them away from the docks and into the narrow lanes of the Persephone’s crowded dock market. They passed by stalls and stalls that were selling everything from food to clothes to jewelry. Finally, they entered a small alleyway, where two big and armed men were standing front of a flight of stairs. They seemed to be guarding the entrance. Ed gestured the others to stay as he approached the two guards, and whispered something to them, then motioned the Direction crew to approach. He led them downstairs into a small, dimly lit room, which was overcrowded with people, mostly men. It appeared to be a waiting area. People were busily talking amongst themselves, and taking no notice of the new arrivals.

“Stay. I’ll let him know you guys are here.” Ed said, and then disappeared through the doors located on the opposite end. He was gone only for a few minutes. When he returned, he waved his hand indicating them to follow him. As they did, Liam noted the dirty glances that came their way.

Liam found himself, along with his crew, in a small room, with a big wooden desk in the middle. Behind the desk, there was a large black swivel chair. On the chair, there was a short, brown haired man with a light brown beard, with his feet up on the desk and a bored expression on his face. He was in his mid-to-late thirties and was surrounded by two armed guards. Four more guards were also in the room, couple at the entrance and two against the back wall. Two chairs were sitting empty in front the desk, and Ed had already occupied one of them. He gestured Liam to take the other one. Liam sat down, while Niall and Dani moved to stand behind him.

“You look young. Too young.” The bearded man said shaking his head. Liam assumed it was probably Badger himself, though he hadn’t bothered to introduce himself yet. He wore a brown suit, which would have been expensive when it was new. Now, it just looked old and worn out. No shirt, but the blazer was buttoned completely, and a thin brown tie was knotted around his neck. On his head sat a black bowler hat, also worn out.

“I’m Captain Payne.” Liam replied simply, ignoring the age jab.

“Captain of what?” The man laughed.

“Captain of my ship, Direction. I think Ed has told you about us looking for work.” Liam stated, eager to get on with it. Ed nodded when Liam referred to him. The statement came out sounding braver than he felt though.

“I’m Badger.” The bearded man introduced himself. “And I don’t like you.” Liam blinked, a bit taken aback by the declaration. “You remind me of someone. Younger, but still the same arrogance. I hate that guy. I don’t want to deal with anyone that reminds me of him.”

“Hm….” Liam was unsure of how to proceed. He’d thought of a whole speech about how great of a pilot Dani was, and how they had some experience traveling on the outer rim and a bunch of other things, but right now none of it seemed to be useful.

“You think you are better than me, don’t you?” Badger demanded, raising his voice as his face turned red. He was clearly angry, and Liam couldn’t really figure out way.

“No! No. Of course not…” Liam denied the accusation quickly. Badger took his feet off the desk, leaned in and narrowed his eye staring directly at Liam.

“You know what I hate more that arrogant Captains? LIARS!” he shouted. And as if on cue, the few surrounding guards held up their rifles, pointing directly at Liam, Niall and Dani.

Liam shifted uncomfortably on his seat. It was not going as planned.

“So, I’m going to ask you again. And think carefully before you answer me. Do you think you are better than me?” Badger asked. His voice was quieter, but still menacing.

“No.” Liam repeated, panicking. Nope. Criminal deals were not something that were natural to him. He was clearly bad at them.

“You’re Browncoats aren’t you?” he asked. He sat back into his chair, and raised his left eyebrow.

“Yes.” Dani said proudly, without missing a beat.

“No. I’m not.” Niall added pretty quickly. “I don’t even own a brown coat.”

Badger looked at Liam expectantly. Liam shrugged, not knowing what to say. Eventually he said “No, not anymore.”

“Bullshit!” Badger yelled back. “Once is slimy little Browncoat, always a slimy little Browncoat. I know Browncoats. They are all still stuck in the past. You know why?” Badger didn’t wait for an answer, “Because in this world, they are a bunch of losers. They are the worst kind of losers. The ones that can’t accept defeat.”

Dani took in a deep breath. Now, she was getting angry. Sensing that, Niall spoke up. “Look, man, if you don’t want to work with us, then fine. We’ve got other offers. Meeting with Fanty and Mingo in an hour. They’ll have some work for us.”

Badger’s eyes widen, if only for a second. And before he could respond to Niall’s bluff, Dani spoke up. She casually pushed away one of muzzles that was resting close to her shoulder, and rapidly said, “Yeah, we do. We do think we’re better than you. You wanted the truth, there you go. We’ve never broken the law, and we don’t point guns at our guests. But none of that really matters. You need a job done, and we’ve got the capabilities. If not, then like Niall said, we’ve got other offers.”

There was a short period of silence in the room as Badger took in what both Niall and Dani had said. “Oh, I _like_ you….” he said nodding rapidly, a small smile meant for Dani. She rolled her eyes. Then he looked directly at Liam, “Fine. Let no one ever say Badger isn’t a kind and generous man. I’ll give you a job, a trial one. See how capable your crew is. There is a shipment, of medical supplies. They need to be delivered.”

“Sounds fine.” Liam said cautiously, wondering what the catch was. Delivering medical supplies? Liam had expected the worst. Drugs or arms. But medical supplies? What could be the harm in that? Sure they were probably stolen, but so what? In fact, it sounded like a nice thing to do.

“The only thing is that that planet is pretty far out and navigation will be tough. It is bit off the map. But you know, they need medical supplies out there too.” Badger casually explained. “Think your pilot can handle the job?”

“I think you can clearly see she can handle anything.” Liam replied, suddenly feeling relieved and tired.

“Ed will explain you the rest. You’ve wasted enough of my time now.” Badger said dismissively, waving them to leave. The crew stood up and followed Ed out from the door they’d entered from. Ed began explaining the details to Dani, while Niall and Liam followed behind.

“Fanty and Mingo, huh? So is that what you were doing at the docks?” Liam questioned Niall quietly.

Niall shrugged. “I thought it might be useful to know names of a couple of Badger’s competitors.”

Liam chuckled quietly. He wasn’t so sure if he was cut out for a life of a smuggler, but his crew seemed to be fitting in quite nicely.

******************************************************************************

Louis had long since finished his drink and put the chair back in the common room by the time Eleanor returned. She was pulling a small wagon behind her. Louis quietly watched as she approached. Her long dark hair was sticking to her face, looking unusually lifelessly. She was covered in filth and smelled worse than she looked.

“What in the ‘verse happened to you?” he demanded once she was in earshot.

“I was at the junkyard. What do you think happened?” She snapped. “Are you going to help me?”

“Well…I wasn’t really planning on it.” Louis made a face. She smelled _really_ bad.

“Louis!” she shrieked.

“Okay, okay. The junkyard has changed you. Where did our sweet, quiet mechanic disappear off to?” Louis asked, as he grabbed the wagon’s handle and pulled it through the loading door and then into the holding area. He looked at the bunch of metal, wires and gadgets in the wagon, and asked “What is all this? Do we really need all this stuff?” He wondered in how much of a bad shape Direction really was in.

“Well, the compression coil has been leaking. It is still working, but don’t know for how long. So I thought having a spare would be a good idea.” She was a holding a large hunk of mental shaped like a cylinder.

“Then, I found a bunch of disposed pulse beacons. I mean they are shot, but I can fix them.”

“We need new pulse beacons?” Louis asked.

“No, of course not!” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “I take care of this ship! I won’t let anything happened to the pulse beacon! But I can fix these and then we can sell them!” She explained as if it should all be obvious to Louis.

“Wow, that’s pretty clever.” Louis said impressed. After a short pause, he asked “What’s a pulse beacon?” Eleanor rolled her eyes again.

“How long have been travelling on Direction? How do you _not_ know what a pulse beacon is?” she asked, shocked. Louis shrugged. “It tracks the signal of the ship. So, like if we get stuck, a rescue ship can track us by locking onto our beacon signal. And the boards over there-” Eleanor went on, but Louis held up his hands. He understood very little of what she had said.

“Just stop. I’ll never understand, but if you think it is all necessary, then fine. You should go and get cleaned up. The others should be on their way back and then we can have supper.” Eleanor nodded and bolted upstairs eager to shower. Louis looked down at his watch and wondered how long they would be. He hadn’t been worried earlier, but it was getting late. The sun would set soon, and he had already promised their new passengers that they’d be leaving today.

It wasn’t long after Eleanor left when Louis heard a jeep approaching, honking loudly, and stopping right in front of Direction. He saw a red-haired man as the driver and Dani in the passenger seat. In the space at the back, Niall and Liam were sitting with a couple a wooden crates, which Louis figured were the goods. Following the jeep was a larger truck, driven by two large intimating looking men.

The red-haired man got out of the jeep and yelled at the guys in the truck, “Alright, let’s get this loaded on.” Liam, Dani and Niall also got out and headed towards Louis who is waiting for them inside the holding area. They gather around in small circle and watched the three men load a lot of wooden crates onto the ship.

“I guess we got the job then.” Louis noted. “Everything go smoothly?” Liam, Dani and Niall exchanged looks and shook their heads.

“I’ve got to map this stuff out.” Dani said pointing to a paper in her hand. “Ed gave me some complicated directions.” She headed upstairs towards the bridge.

“Don’t take too along. We are having supper soon!” Louis called after her. She nodded her head, but didn’t look back.

“Niall, can you open up and air out one of the guest rooms for Ed?” Liam asked. It wasn’t really Niall’s job, but Liam wanted a minute alone with Louis. Niall understood, nodded and headed off.

“So, what happened?” Louis inquired eagerly.

“I’ll give you the details later. But right now we’ve got to discuss a new guest on the ship. Ed.” Liam said subtly pointed to the red-haired man who was directing the other two men how to stack up the boxes.

“He has to come with us?” Louis asked, confused.

“I guess Badger doesn’t really trust us. Plus he’s got our payment. He said all the money will be transferred once the delivery is made.” Liam explained.

“I guess we should set another plate setting for supper tonight.” Louis sighed, more than a little unhappy to have someone who works for Badger on board.

“Just keep an eye out for him. I don’t trust him.” Liam whispered softly. Louis nodded as they watched the last of the crates being pushed onto the ship. Ed waved to the two men who had helped him, and they quickly left with the truck. Ed then got into the jeep, drove inside the ship and parked it next to the crates.

“We’ll needed the jeep,” Ed explained as he got out, picked up a small suitcase from inside the vehicle and joined Liam and Louis. “The terrain will be difficult to manage. Oh, hi.” He smiled warmly at Louis.

Louis returned a sour smile. “Hello.” But Ed didn’t seem to notice.

“Ed, why don’t you head on upstairs? See if you can find Niall. He’ll show you your room.”

“But you haven’t introduced me formally.” Ed said, genuinely shocked. Liam sighed, wondering if Ed was truly created by the universe to annoy him.

“Ed, this is Louis. Louis this is Ed.” Liam stated flatly.

“It is nice to meet the rest of the crew. I think we’re going to have so much fun!” Ed exclaimed with a huge smile.

“Pleasure.” Louis replied. Ed then headed upstairs. Louis and Liam watched him go and remained silent until they were sure he was out of earshot.

“Oh my god. He is not real. That has to be an act.” Louis blurts out.

“I thought so too, but I’m not so sure.” Liam admitted with a shrug. “But see what I mean? We have to keep an eye on him.”

They moved to close the loading doors and then followed everyone else upstairs “Oh, there is something else.” Louis mentioned, hesitantly.

“What did you do?” Liam asked, exasperatedly.

“Don’t be like that! It is a good thing! I, your loyal second-in-command, went out and found us a couple of passengers! That can pay! I mean it was hard work, all that looking around. But what can I say? I’m pretty resourceful.” Louis explained.

“Passengers? Really? How many? Where are they heading? I mean, who are they?” Liam questioned as they entered the common room and the kitchen. They started prepping for the supper while talking. Liam took out stacks of protein from cold storage and began heating them. Natural food was a luxury that most people couldn’t afford every day. And this crew were far more desperate than most people. They hadn’t so much as tasted natural food in months. Still, this food provided basic nutrition and was warm.

Louis set out to cut up vegetable supplements, which vaguely reassembled actual vegetables and had the same nutrients but tasted nothing like real vegetables. “Calm down. There are two of them. And….well, I’m not sure exactly where…”

Liam clenched his teeth and gave him a stern look. “You can’t invite people on this ship without a proper background check. Especially now that we are sitting on stolen property and rooming with Badger’s henchman!”

“ _You_ are the one that told me how desperate we are! So, I got us some paying customers. Work that is completely legal by the way.” Louis protested. “Plus, one of them is renting the shuttle pod.”

Liam stopped for a second. “Really? They have the money to pay for the pod?”

“Yep. He specifically asked for it.” Louis nodded.

Liam took out the _not_ -bread and placed it in the oven wordlessly, deep in thought. This morning they weren’t even sure when they’d get their next job, and now had goods to transport, paying passengers and a rented out shuttle pod.

 _Maybe our lucky is turning_ , he thought hopefully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeek. First timer here. Hope it isn’t too bad or too confusing for non-Firefly watchers.
> 
> I do admit it is a bit of a slower burner. But there was a lot to setup. I promise the next chapter will have more important characters and interactions.
> 
> Some parts of this chapter were based on the Firefly’s ‘Serenity’ episode. Credit to Joss Whedon, who wrote it. 
> 
> Oh, please forgive any grammar/spelling mistakes. English isn’t my first language. I will try my best to keep the mistakes to a minimum.


	3. The Passengers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is a bit shorter than the last chapter. This chapter was actually supposed to be part of the previous chapter, but together… it just seemed too long.

A little while later, everyone but Dani had arrived into the common room. Eleanor and Niall set up plates and cutlery for everyone while Liam and Louis finished bringing out their dinner. Ed watched the whole process with great curiosity after insisting on being ‘formally’ introduced to Eleanor. And of course, insistently, asking when Dani would be joining them.

“Wait, eight place setting? Ed asked, noticing the plates.

“We’ve got a couple of passengers.” Niall explained. Ed’s eyes widen for a brief second.

“Oh, so other people? Like who?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll introduce you to them once they are here. _Formally_.” Louis replied as he brought out his cooked not-vegetables to the table. Just then, Dani appeared at the doorway looking pretty dishevelled from working on the directions Ed had given her.

“Louis, our passengers are here. I’ve unlocked the loading doors. Go help them with their luggage.” She spoke quickly, still clearly distracted with her work.

“Dani, leave that map stuff and come have some food.” Louis insisted, walking up to her and gently dragging her to the table. “You work too hard. Right, Captain?”

“I guess I’ve to make up for your lazy ass.” Dani grinned, as she sat down next to Eleanor at the table. Liam, who was still in the kitchen, poked his head out and asked, “Did someone say Captain?”

“Yes, Liam, you’ll be thrilled to know that Louis here called you Captain. Woohoo!” Dani replied waving her fist in the air in a mock celebration. Everyone at the table giggled.

“Excuse me? But can we get back to the discussion about my ass. Have you seen it? It is a lot of things, but I won’t call it lazy.” Louis countered.

“I REALLY don’t want to talk about your ass at dinnertime, Louis.” Niall pleaded with him.

“Then what time would be more convenient?” Louis asked, innocently. While this discussion was taking place, Liam was busy bringing out the rest of the food to the table. Once everything was out, he settled in his place next to Louis. Everyone began to digging into the food.

Then, Eleanor suddenly exclaimed “Oh! We forgot about the passengers!”

“Yes,” Louis pursed his lips, “My ass can be a distracting subject.” Niall moved to get up, Liam waved him off.

“I’ll go. You guys eat.” Liam got up and hurried downstairs, pretty embarrassed for making their passengers wait. _What a way to make a bad impression_ , he thought, _on our first passengers in weeks_.

He walked downstairs and saw that the loading doors were already pushed open. A man was standing in the middle of the loading area next to a large square crate. He had his back to Liam was staring out at the docks. Once Liam reached the surface he cleared his throat to get the man’s attention. The man quickly turned around at the sound.

Liam froze, and his mouth went dry. He wasn’t expecting this at all. He was genuine shock for a few seconds, and for a number of reasons.

First, the man wasn’t so much of a man as he was a boy. _He couldn’t be more than twenty_ , Liam thought. Second, he was dressed in expensive, ornate clothes. Clothes that Liam had never seen and only read about in books. The mysterious boy wore a long white silk shirt that ended just above his knees. It was covered with intricate and colorful embroidery, in different hues of gold and red. His pants (though Liam was sure they were called something else) were embossed with a complementary pattern. He wore large shawl around his neck, with one end tucked over his shoulders. The shawl was also lavishly decorated, with both embroidery and bead work. He wore more jewelry than Liam had even seen in real life. Small hoop earnings, (which Liam was sure was real gold) a couple of gold chains each with golden pendants and even a few gold bracelets around his wrists.

And thirdly, he was the most beautiful person Liam thought he'd ever seen. The boy had a thick head of dark raven-coloured hair that was styled flawlessly to frame his face. He had large honey-brown coloured eyes, which sat underneath a pair of dark thick eyebrows. His skin was tanned, with an olive undertone and he had a strong jawline that was dotted with some stubble. He didn’t even look real to Liam. It was as if Liam had walked into a fairy tale, and this boy was some kind of Prince. The boy clearly didn’t look like he belonged on a ship like Direction.

And though while he _was_ beautiful, the boy was currently wearing an irritable expression on his face. It took a while for Liam to register this or even the fact that the boy was speaking to him.

When Liam regained his senses, he heard the boy ask, “Do you understand English?”

“Yes.” Liam replied, his voice came out hoarsely. _Okay, time to focus, Liam_ , he thought to himself.

“Then why aren’t you answering my question?” The boy snapped. It was only then Liam realized that the boy seemed pretty annoyed. Liam smiled apologetically. He moved closer and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Liam.”

“I don’t care who you are. Answer the damn question.” The boy demanded, ignoring Liam’s hand. Liam realized that he had completely missed the question while he was busy staring. He wondered how obvious he had been.

“I’m sorry I didn’t hear your question.” Liam admitted, hoping he wasn’t turning red. The boy didn’t look surprised at Liam’s admission. He just let out a sigh that indicated that he was really annoyed.

“I asked you where the Captain was.” The boy explained. “We’ve been waiting here for a while. Is this the way your crew deals with passengers?”

“No, of course not. We’re really sorry. We were just caught up-” Liam tried to explain, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m not interested in excuses. Where is your Captain? I’ll complain to him directly.” The boy said, interrupting Liam.

“I am the Captain.” Liam admitted.

The boy paused for a minute, as if waiting for Liam to admit he was joking and then rolled his eyes. “Seriously? How old are you?” It was at that point Liam decided to stop being so polite. He had already apologized for the short delay, and this kid (no matter how beautiful) shouldn’t be able to get away with being so disrespectable.

“Old enough.” Liam replied, shortly. There were interrupted with noise coming from the entrance. Liam saw another man, blond, dragging in a bunch of suitcases and bags. He quickly moved to help, expecting the boy to offer a hand as well. But the boy didn’t budge from his place next to his metal crate.

“Hi, I’m Josh.” The blond man introduced himself once Liam got close, and they both settled the luggage down near the boy and his big metal box.

“I’m Caption Payne. Nice to have you on board. Is this everything?” he asked pointing to the luggage. The boy snorted and Josh shook his head, with a small smile.

“No, not even close.” Josh sighed as he went out again, and Liam decided to follow him on the docks. He saw that there was still a bunch of bags, suitcases and even a couple of wooden crates left to be dragged in. It was probably the most luggage for one passenger he’d ever seen. Sensing Liam’s confusion, Josh explained, “He’s a bit of a diva. He ‘needs’ all his stuff. That one is just for his hair.” He pointed to a particularly large bag.

Liam and Josh started grabbing as many of the bags they could. Between the two of them, they managed to grab most of them. “Is he always such a prick though?” Liam asked, a bit shocked that at his own bluntness. Josh laughed.

“As long as I’ve known him.” Josh nodded. Josh and Liam finished bringing into the rest of the luggage including the crates. Then he closed and locked the ship’s doors. The boy didn’t really help them. Instead he obnoxiously instructed to be careful and where to put his stuff. Finally, once they were done, Liam invited Josh for supper, pointedly ignoring the boy. The boy instructed Josh to grab a couple of bags, and then followed them upstairs with one last look at his luggage.

When the three of them entered the common room, the table was still full. Though the food was considerably less. The crew and Ed seemed to be getting along well, laughing and joking around. A lot of the tension of the last few weeks had considerably lessened after realizing that they actually have income coming in soon. They looked up as Liam and the passengers walked in, and quietened down.

“These are our passengers.” Liam said, pointing to Josh and the boy. Josh waved. “Josh and…”

“Zayn.” The boy muttered, without really looking at anyone, choosing instead to scan the room. Liam noticed that the crew and Ed also had a pretty strong reaction to the boy as well. Louis jaw dropped and Dani nearly choked on the water she was drinking. Niall, Eleanor and Ed just stared silently, puzzled. _So, it wasn’t just me,_ Liam thought, a little less embarrassed. After a brief pause as they all took in the boy’s appearance, they murmured greetings to the passengers.

“Come sit next to me Josh,” Louis invited him, pushing Liam’s plate aside and getting the empty one. Josh moved to sit next to Louis, which left two empty places next to each for Liam and Zayn. Liam made his way to the empty chair, and starting digging into his food. After a pause, Zayn sat down next to Liam, staring at but not touching the food sitting in front of him.

“Josh and I go way back you know.” Louis announced to the table. Liam noticed that Zayn froze for a moment at Louis’s declaration. “Remember the time we met on the docks?” Louis asked.

“Yeah.” Josh giggled. “Vaguely. It was almost seven hours ago.” Zayn seemed to relax realizing that Louis was joking. Louis re-introduced the crew and Ed to Josh and by extension to Zayn, though the later of the two didn’t seem to pay any attention time either. He didn’t look up at anyone at the table or offer a hello. Not even when Ed specifically waved a shy hi towards him.

“What is this?” Zayn finally spoke, ignoring Ed and pointing to the food on his. Everyone at the table turned to look at the dark haired boy.

“It’s dinner.” Liam replied. _That I spend a good deal of time preparing_ , he thought. The boy scoffed.

“Oh, and I’m meant to _eat_ this?” Zayn asked, looking disgusted. He stuck a fork in the protein and stared at his plate while making a face.

“It is not as bad as it looks.” Josh said, and took a couple of big bites encouraging Zayn to do the same.

“Oh, I believe that. Nothing could taste as bad as this looks.” Zayn stated. There was a short silence following his rude remarks.

“So, Josh what do you do for a living?” Ed asked, turning his attention to the other passenger.

“I work for Zayn. That’s keeps me pretty busy.” He said with a quiet laugh.

“And what does Zayn do?” Louis asked, raising his eyebrows. Liam saw that there was a puzzled expression on Josh’s face and Zayn looked…offended.

“I thought it was obvious.” Josh said shaking his head.

“I’m a Guild Companion.” Zayn spoke again. The voice filled with pride or as Liam would describe it, arrogance. Then he stood up, “I wish to be shown to my own shuttle now.” As he got up and moved, Liam couldn’t help but notice the quiet elegance in the way he moved. It was almost regal.

“I’ll take you,” Niall offered getting up, as he had finished his supper. Josh also got up, grabbed the luggage he had brought up, and followed Niall and Zayn toward the shuttle. Everyone waited quietly until they were out of earshot.

“Oh my universe!” Eleanor exclaimed. “A real life Companion!”

“We should’ve guessed. There was something so…different about him.” Dani added shaking her head. “You know, they are trained in the art of seduction.” She raised and lowered her eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, sure…but I mean I still don’t get it. Basically, he is just a glorified government trained and approved hooker.” Louis pointed out. Eleanor gasped as if she had been personally insulted.

“Companions are _not_ hookers!” she argued, shocked at Louis’s attitude. “They are trained in _all_ the fine arts since practically birth. They receive the best education, wear the most expensive clothes, attend the most exclusive events and meet the most influential people in the universe!”

“Besides, you can’t be a hooker if you choose your own clients, right?” Dani added. “I hear it is honor even being considered. Plus, their charges are astronomical. Only the wealthiest people could afford a night with a companion.”

Louis shrugged, clearly still unimpressed.

“I guess, the perspective is different. For you outer planet lot, Companions are just hookers, but for the core planets, they are highly respected. Almost like ambassadors.” Ed pointed out. “Just more pleasant to look at.”

“Maybe pleasant to look at, but he seems like a total ass.” Dani said, making a face. A mummer went around the table as they all agreed.

“I guess that’s what Josh meant about the visa.” Louis muttered, mostly to himself. Then, asked “They have special visas? Or something. Companions, I mean.”

“Yeah, they get diplomatic passports. Basically, they can go where they please.” Eleanor explained.

“So they can go around as they please, fucking anyone in the universe.” Louis concluded dryly. Then added, “He looked ridiculous. I mean who wears those clothes to travel?”

“You seem to know a lot about Companions.” Dani noted, looking at Eleanor. Eleanor turned slightly red.

“I kinda wished I was one when I was younger. It all sounded so glamorous, especially when you live in a small outer planet. And your dad is a mechanic so you are covered in engine grease most of your life because.” Eleanor admitted, shrugging.

“You’re much better than any Companion.” Louis assured her. “You are our mechanic extraordinaire!”

The discussion seemed to have ended there, as they began cleaning up. Even Ed offered a hand. Liam, who had been quiet during the whole Companion debate, kept the eyes focused on the food on Zayn’s plate. He decided to reheat the food and take to their guest despite the earlier rudeness. As far as Zayn’s profession was concerned, Liam understood very little about being a Companion. He guessed it wasn’t his place to judge.

He walked towards the shuttle and buzzed to be let in. The door opened after a moment and Zayn was on the other side looking suspiciously at Liam. He waited to be invited in, but Zayn didn’t say anything, so Liam moved past him into the shuttle. Zayn sighed. It was an unusually large shuttle for a ship like Direction, which would have come in handy more often if people could actually afford it.

Once inside the shuttle, Liam realized that Josh and Zayn had been busy decorating.

The shuttle smelled floral, like jasmine or something to that effect. Liam saw that Zayn had incense burning on the table next to his bed. The bed had new linens, which looked expensive. Colourful clothes hung from the closet in the corner. The only chair in the room was covered with a thick woolly throw, and even small curtain had been attached to the shuttle’s windows. Some of his bags were opened, showing all sorts of expensive things that Liam couldn’t even begin to imagine owning. Perfume oils, jewelry and even some sort of herbs or tea, Liam couldn’t be sure. He had some artwork out. Liam knew nothing about art, but the ones in the shuttle were certainly pretty.

Zayn looked at him expectedly.

“I brought you some supper. You didn’t have anything.” Liam point to the plate in his hand.

“I thought I had been pretty clear. I’d rather die than touch that so-called food.” Zayn replied, haughtily.

“Then you will. Because we don’t have any other kind of food on board. This isn’t a cruise ship. And plenty of people don’t even have this. So, I suggest you suck it up and eat it or remain hungry the entire journey. I’ll see to it that your stuff is returned to your family when you die.” Liam snapped. Zayn looked like the he’d just been slapped. Liam forced Zayn to hold the plate and walked out.

Liam had learned to be patient over the years, but it would require a lot more out of him to tolerate Zayn’s attitude.

******************************************************************************

Liam returned to the bridge, and saw Dani was already charting out the navigation for the trip.

“All done?” he asked as he sat down on the co-pilot seat.

“I think so. It wasn’t easy. It going to be a bit of long journey. Josh and his _highness_ have to get to Saint Albas, which is here.” Dani pointed to a planet on the map as she talked. “And the delivery is supposed to be on Black Water, which is all the way in the Blue Sun system. Given the planetary alignments, it will take us over week to get to Saint Albas, maybe more if the weather sucks. Then, we take this route to Black Water. I haven’t taken it before, but it is quickest. But it is just dead space, you know. Pretty isolated.”

“Yeah, but that’s the rim. Nothing we can do about it. I don’t think we’ve been that far out before?”

“No, we haven’t. There is another issue. Black Water is a couple planets past the Uroborus asteroid belt. That will be tricky. We’ll have to be careful, slow down and maybe even wait out there for better weather.”

“Okay.” Liam approved. Dani was an experienced pilot. He trusted her judgment.

“But we’ll have to stop and refuel in a couple of days. Before we get to Saint Albas.” Dani informed him, hesitantly. Liam looked at the map in on a digital screen front of him, and realized what Dani was talking about. They’d had to stop. And the best place to stop for fuel would be Liam’s home planet, Jiangyin. Liam sighed, feeling unsure. On the one hand, he avoided going back to his home planet as much as he could. His parents had died a few years ago, and he’d sold off their farm to his aunt and uncle. His home just didn’t feel like home anymore. But, on the other hand, Eleanor is also from Jiangyin, and she’d love to see her family even for a little while. It wasn’t much of a debate.

“So, I guess we stop at Jiangyin in three days.” Liam nodded. Then he pressed down on the intercom button and spoke in the speakers, “Hello everyone. This is your Captain speaking. Welcome aboard Direction. Please make your way into the common room and fasten your seatbelts. We’ll be departing shortly.”

Dani turned on the engines, pull the lever for takeoff. And soon, the ship that had been docked for days, was ascending up into the sky. Liam watched from his side window, Persephone docks getting smaller and smaller, until the entire city because too small to distinguish. The ship rattled as they broke atmosphere, and Liam hoped everyone had listened to him when he told them to wear seatbelts. And finally as Direction hit space, Liam relaxed. He was back where he belonged.

******************************************************************************

Later that night, Liam found himself in the kitchen, cleaning up plates and glasses from the supper earlier. It seemed that no one had finished cleaning up after Liam left to see Zayn. The ship eerily quiet as everyone had gone off to sleep. Almost everyone. Dani was still awake in the bridge. But for the most part, no one was around. So, when he heard noise behind him, he couldn’t help but be a little startled and nearly dropped the plate he was washing in the sink.

Liam turned around and saw Zayn standing behind him, with his empty plate in one hand and a fancy cloth pouch in the other. He had changed from his earlier clothes, and was wearing a silk robe that just looked luxurious.

“So you finished it?” Liam asked, eying the empty plate. Zayn nodded. Liam took the plate from him and put it in the pile of other dirty plates that he was washing.

“Yeah, I couldn’t really believe it….it actually tasted worse than it looked. That’s got to be some kind of accomplishment.” Zayn remarked, snidely. Liam sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Maybe you can cook tomorrow. See if you are any better.” Liam suggested.

Zayn scoffed, making a face. “Yeah, I don’t cook.” Liam turned his attention away from Zayn and went back to cleaning. He expected the boy to leave, but could still feel his presence in the doorway.

“Why are you still here?” Liam asked, without looking back. There wasn’t a reply, so Liam finally gave in and turned back around to see Zayn looking hesitantly at the pouch in his hand. Almost as if he was debating whether to speak or not. Liam watched at him. He’d never seen Zayn looked anything less than completely confident or completely annoyed. This was new.

Zayn placed the pouch on the kitchen counter near him. “This could possibly help. In the taste department.” He said hesitantly. Then with more confidence, “The ‘verse knows you could use the help.”

Liam picked up the pouch and emptied the contents. He saw that there were smaller pouches inside. His eyes widen.

“Is this what I think it is?” Liam asked, a little shocked. They looked like small pouches filled with like spices and herbs. He could smell the aroma. Actual grown spices and herbs from the ground.

“Herbs and spices grown in the gardens of Sihnon. You’ve probably never seen let alone tasted anything like them. They are as close as can be to spices that they had on Earth-That-Was.” Zayn informed him, reverting back to the arrogance he usually displayed.

“Wow. Ummm…Thanks.” Liam said, sincerely. Though he was still shocked. “Are you sure you don’t want to save these? Like for yourself. I mean, are you sure you want to share them with the rest of the crew?”

Zayn only shrugged. “You lot probably need it more than I do.” Liam shook his head. Only Zayn could _still_ act like as an arrogant ass while being generous.

“Are the… people at the table on only ones on the ship?” Zayn asked. “I’d like to know if someone more interesting is around.”

“No, it is just us. Sorry. Uncouth and unsophisticated lot you’ll have to deal with. If you hate our lot so much, why didn’t you get one of the cruise ships to travel on?” Liam asked, narrowing his eyes, genuinely wondering. Companions don’t usually travel on ships like Direction.

Zayn sighed. “If I could, I would be anywhere but here. But money is a bit tight right now and I needed a shuttle pod.” He explained. “I guess I can chalk it up to _experience_ when I get back to civilized people.”

Liam clenched his teeth. _Civilized people? What the hell does he think we are?_ Liam wondered. “You mean back to the central planets.” Liam said carefully.

“Exactly.”

“You don’t even know anything about my crew.” Liam forced himself to keep calm and keep his anger at bay. “Louis has probably saved more lives in the war than anybody you know back from wherever you are from. Dani’s knows her way about in the ‘verse like nobody else, especially better than those Alliance trained sorry excuse of pilots now-a-days. Eleanor is only nineteen, and kept this rutter of a ship in the sky for years. And Niall….well consider it a testament to his _civilized_ heart that he hasn’t crushed you like a bug even though he could and you’ve given him enough reasons to.”

Zayn stared blankly at Liam for about a second. His expression unreadable. Liam turned back to his dishes.

“So Louis was in the war?” Zayn asked. “You guys Browncoats then?” Liam groaned. He’d had enough talk about Browncoats for one day. But again, exercising patience, Liam only nodded to Zayn’s question.

“Did you actually fight or just sat around yelling those god awful Independence slogans…what was that one…Can’t take the sky from me or something?”

“Dani, Louis and I were enlisted.” Liam explained. “Louis and I were in the same squad. Dani was a fighter pilot.”

“If you guys were enlisted…you’ve must have been really young…” Zayn frowned, looking confused.

“We were sixteen. Underage but, they took us.” Liam said, quietly. He didn’t really understand how they’d ended up in this conversation, but he didn’t want to continue it anymore. Zayn seemed to sense Liam’s uneasiness. There was a short period of silence.

After a while, Zayn spoke “Why are you doing that?” he asked, mercifully changing the subject.

“Doing what?” Liam asked. Zayn pointed at the dirty dishes in the sink. Liam shrugged.

“Dishes need to be cleaned.” Liam was puzzled why he was even asking the question. Zayn looked at him strangely.

“But you’re the Captain. The Captain doesn’t wash dishes. Someone in the crew does.”

“On my ship, the Captain does what needs to be done.” Liam replied, quite confidently.

“You mean other people’s jobs, like greeting passengers and acting like a waiter. You do this often?” Zayn smirked. Liam sighed. He really didn’t understand this kid. One minute he was generously sharing his expensive herbs, and the next minute he was back to insulting him.

“I don’t feel bad about helping out my crew.” Liam said, defensively. Zayn laughed in response. “I don’t see why you care.” he hissed, now quite angry.

“Oh I don’t. Just thought I should let you know, in case you were wondering. You seem like a total pushover. People probably walk all over you. That’s why your crew probably doesn’t really treat you like a Captain or respect you. Pathetic really…” And with that Zayn turned around and left. This time, it felt as if Liam had been slapped across his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of this chapter were based on Firefly’s ‘Serenity’ episode, written by Joss Whedon.
> 
> Disclaimer: The concept of Companion is straight out from Firefly. I just wanted to make it clear the characters don't reflect my opinion on the subject.
> 
> Most of planets in the story are mentioned in Firefly, except for Black Water. That, I made up.
> 
> Also, the next chapter is by far my favourite. Shit goes down! So stick around! Also, I think we are still missing someone….hmmmm…


	4. Red Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. This was supposed to be up on Tuesday night. Hope the length (almost 7000 words) makes up for the delay.

Liam knew that traveling in space was boring for most people. It was a necessity in their lives, but if people could avoid it, they usually did. He figured that’s probably because they had some where to get. Or had someone waiting for them. Liam didn’t have that. Not really.  

Which is probably why he felt better than he had in weeks when he woke up the next day. They were back in the sky. Feeling a new sense of optimism, Liam immediately started making breakfast before the rest of the ship woke up.

And desperately tried to forget the words that Zayn had so cruelly uttered in the same kitchen the night before.

Liam admitted that they had hurt. Hurt, no. He wasn’t hurt. He was angry. It wasn’t easy to have someone lay out one’s insecurities like that. He was so angry that he even debated whether to use the herbs that Zayn had given him. But of course, there was no reason to deprive others of a tasty meal just because he was angry at Zayn.

Liam was nearly finished preparing the meal when Louis noisily came in, sat down on one of the kitchen stools, and watched him.

“You are up early.” Louis commented, still looking a little groggy.

“Yeah, I thought I’d get started on breakfast.” Liam shrugged. “Before we all get busy with stuff.”

“So, what is on schedule for today?” Louis asked, rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake.

“Well, I’m putting you on bridge duty today. Dani has laid out a clear map, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Just don’t crash us into anything.” Liam finished with a smile. Louis, being the mature second-in-command that he was, stuck out his tongue. “Then, I thought I’d give Eleanor a hand with the repairs. Niall has to go through some of our ‘inventory.’”

Liam was referring to a few weapons they had on board. Most ships travelled with weapons because it was a dangerous universe out there. And the crew carried goods, making Direction a desirable target for criminals. But now, since they had a deal with Badger, they needed more up-to-date weapons.

“I’ll probably start with other inventory. Stuff we need to for the long journey.” Liam finished with the chores he had in mind. “Other than that…tend to our passengers I guess.

“Sounds boring.” Louis yawned. “Can we get out the hoop? I want to take on Niall. I’m sick of him beating me all the time.”

“Why do you insist on taking him on?” Liam asked, still working on cooking breakfast. “You lose every time! Just face it, he is just better.”

“No, but you see, I’ve figured it out. Niall isn’t playing fair. He is like a giant. And I’m a normal sized person. So, it is only fair that I should get a partner to help me.” Liam sighed, realizing that this hoop game wasn’t a spur of the moment plan. Louis had something in mind.

“A partner? Like who?”

“Like a certain blond passenger.”

“Josh?” Liam asked. Louis nodded. Liam sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Just make sure not to play anywhere near the meds.” Louis leapt towards Liam, hugging him tightly.

“You are like…you are the best ever!” Louis exclaimed. “Have I mentioned that?”

“Not nearly enough.” Liam smiled. Louis shook his head, and started helping Liam with the food. Soon enough, breakfast was ready and Liam buzzed everyone to come down quickly.

The crew and passengers came shuffling in. Josh, Eleanor and Zayn looked like they’d already showered and gotten ready. Zayn was dressed in beautiful embroidered clothes similar to ones he had worn yesterday, but these were a touch more tone down. _Not that Liam noticed or anything_. Niall was still in his pajamas, looking like he was struggling to stay awake. Ed, well Liam wasn’t quite sure. He could have gotten ready or slept in the clothes he was wearing, Liam really couldn’t tell.

Everyone was settled around the table and chatting away by the time Liam brought out the food. Except for Zayn, who still refused to really acknowledge anyone else at the table besides Josh. After what happened the night before, Liam made sure to sit as far away from Zayn as possible. Once all the food was on the table, they dug in. It only took a moment before everyone started murmuring about how the food tasted different.

“Okay, is it just me or food taste different?” Louis finally said it loudly.

“Different? I’m sure it hasn’t expired or anything…” Liam played innocent. Despite his earlier resolve, he snuck a look to Zayn, who was smirking. But also eating.

“No, not expired. I mean…like it is good. Like it tastes good.” Louis explained. A mummer of agreement went around the table.

“So, my food usually doesn’t taste good.” Liam gasped mockingly, raising his right eyebrow.

“It tastes like there is something like…some sort of herb in it or something?” Ed said incessantly chewing the small portion that he had put in his mouth.

“It is Oregano.” Zayn stated, rolling his eyes. Everyone around Liam frowned and looked at him expectedly.

“Are there actual herbs in the breakfast?” Louis demanded, eating with more vigor than he had previously.

“Are you serious?” Eleanor gasped, scooping up her portion and fitting all she could with her mouth. Niall said something too, but the fact that he was also shoving down everything in front of him made it difficult for anyone to understand him.

Liam laughed. “Yep, there are herbs in that. Oregano to be precise. Thought I’d give everyone a big surprise this morning.”

“These are really good herbs though. Had some a while back…didn’t taste like this.” Ed muttered. “Must have grown in a special garden or something. It might actually taste like oregano on Earth-That-Was. ”

“So… so… good!” Louis said stuffing the protein square in his mouth. “Wait! Where did to get almost Earth-like herbs? Who did you kill, Liam?”

“Actually-” Liam started.

“From the docks, of course.” Zayn interrupted. “Where else? He didn’t grow a garden on the ship, now did he?” He pretend to sound bored of the conversation. Louis narrowed his eyes at Zayn and then turned away to look back at Liam.

“You spend money on the docks?” Louis asked surprised. “Wow, maybe you aren’t a cheapskate all the time.”

 _Why is he lying?_ Liam wondered looking at Zayn. He should have just clarified where the herbs came from, but he didn’t. Instead, he just shrugged, and quietly went back to eating his breakfast. Perhaps the little lie was worth it when Liam and Zayn exchanged brief looks of acknowledgement, knowing they shared a secret.

Wait, he wasn’t supposed to care about Zayn at all. Liam was mad at him. He was rude and arrogant. He enjoyed insulting Liam and now, he was obviously a liar. Then, why did Liam’s anger about yesterday seem like a distant memory? And why did the briefest of glances between the two them make Liam feel like there are butterflies in his stomach? Not just butterflies, but herbed tasty butterflies. _Sigh_.

******************************************************************************

Liam didn’t really see much of Zayn for most of the day, though he noticed him walking about. He busied himself with the numerous chores he had to get through before they arrived at Jiangyin. He stayed for a while in the bridge with Louis. Instead of paying attention to the task at hand, Louis insisted on laying out a plan against Niall during the up-coming hoop game. Liam only nodded in reply to Louis grand scheme.

“It is perfect. Don’t you think?” Louis asked, but without waiting for reply, he continued. “Kicking Niall’s ass and at the same time getting to know our guest.”

“ _Know_ you mean.” Liam cocked his left eyebrow in mock judgement.

“Yes, Liam,” Louis sighed. “I mean to get in his pants. I mean to hook up with him. To fuck him till he ̶”

“Okay, okay I get it. I don’t need any details.” Liam interrupted, covering his ears sarcastically. He looked away from his friend, and began to concentrate on the digital map on his side of the room.

“Stop being such a prude. Besides, when was the last time you got laid?” Louis pointed out. “No judgement from you.”

“I wasn’t judging. Just…you know. Be careful. It is not like we know these people.” Liam explained, still looking away.

“You’ve never really had a problem me or Dani with hooking up with other guests before. So, spill… what’s your problem?” Louis asked. Liam finally turned back around and moved closer.

“It’s…just that I don’t understand how you think it is a good idea?” Liam asks, sincerely. “I mean they are leaving in a week.”

“It is just a casual hook up, Liam.” Louis stated plainly, rolling his eyes. Liam knew that his uneasiness had nothing to do with Louis’s interest in Josh or the numerous guests that Dani, Niall and even Eleanor had hooked up with in the past. Liam didn’t really care. Just that, now there was a certain guest that Liam might have been…sort of…kind of…at least…a tiny bit…perhaps….interested in. But Liam just couldn’t imagine ‘hooking up’ with Zayn. _Why is it easier for everyone else except for me?_ he wondered.

He hadn’t really had a proper relationship in a while. The longest one he had was with a classmate, Lamar, back on his home planet before he enlisted. After the war, there were a few short-lived relationships. None of them worked out. Most of the time, Liam knows it was his fault. He was pretty closed up following their defeat to the Alliance. Never let anyone in. But he did try to make it work in his last relationship. A man, Isaac, he had met through working with a small transport company in the border planets. But it just got harder and harder to even meet up and eventually it fizzled out. At some point after that, unconsciously, Liam just gave up.

He left Louis in the bridge, trusting that for now Louis can take care of the ship himself. He met Niall in the storage room, where they kept their arsenal of arms. Albeit, arsenal was a generous word used to describe their current collection. Niall was cleaning one of the handguns when Liam entered. They quickly assessed that not only did they need more up-to-date firepower, but also needed to replace a few old ones that no longer could be relied upon. He also informed Niall about Louis’s hoop-game.

The lunch went smoothly, as more compliments were heaped at Liam since he added some of the spices that Zayn had given him. To his surprise, Zayn seemed to be opening up a little bit and getting along with the rest of the crew.

The rest of the day was spend helping Eleanor with repairs, which meant mostly holding tools until Eleanor asked for them and listening to her complain about the parts that the ship needs, which Liam (at this point in time) couldn’t afford. He then moved onto tending to guest laundry and then finally setting up the hoop for the game.

******************************************************************************

Most of the cargo was pushed against the back wall of the holding area. The rest of Zayn’s luggage was also put there. So there was plenty of room in front to setup the hoops and play. By the time Liam had set everything up, Dani was awake and Eleanor had also been roped into playing. Slowly, they all made their way downstairs, ready to play.

Louis had already called dibs on Josh as a partner. Niall had picked Eleanor. But when he realized that Ed was sort of left out, he was also invited onto Niall’s and Eleanor’s team. Dani and Liam chose to sit out but promised to cheer loudly as possible. Dani and Liam settled on the stairs to watch the spectacle take place.

The game turned out to be pretty predictable. Niall was a machine, and Eleanor was pretty competent player as well. Louis and Josh, on the other hand were struggling. To win that is. Louis’s plan to woo Josh was going amazingly well according to Liam. Louis was generous with compliments at anything that Josh did, and he made sure to make physical contact with Josh at every opportunity. Josh was blushing throughout the match and not because he was playing particularly hard.

Liam was watching intently, until he causally glanced back and saw Zayn standing on top of the stairs watching them play. He didn’t notice Liam looking at him straight away. A few seconds later his eyes fell on Liam and he realized that he had been spotted. He quickly left. For some reason, he found himself leaving the game and following Zayn back into the ship.

“I’ll be right back,” he told Dani, as he climbed up the stairs and into the common room. But Zayn wasn’t there. Liam debated whether not to make his way to Zayn’s shuttle. In the end, he walked towards the shuttle and buzzed.

Zayn opened the door, and didn’t seem very surprised to see him. “Do you need something?” he asked, haughtily. 

Unlike the last time, Zayn wasn’t blocking the entrance to the shuttle, so on instinct Liam stepped through the doors. “I was just wondering why you didn’t come down.” Liam lied. “You…know…to watch the game. Louis and Josh are losing badly. Maybe some moral support from his boss would help.” Liam took a quick look around the room and realized that Zayn had been busy painting. And half-done canvas was placed on the other side of the room.

“I can’t think of anything worse than caring about what people do with a ball and hoop.” Zayn scoffed.

Liam tore his gaze away from the beautiful canvas to look back at Zayn, which he really shouldn’t. His stomach felt odd every time he saw Zayn.

“But Josh is playing. You could at least try…for him.” Liam reasoned. Zayn rolled his eyes. At that, something snapped inside Liam. “You know, you can be a total asshole.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take being an asshole over a pushover any day.” Zayn replied evenly, not even looking surprised at Liam’s insult.

“Selfish prick.”

“Doormat.”

And then the next thing Liam knew, they were kissing. He had no idea who had kissed who, only that his lips were on Zayn’s, and they were kissing each other fervently. It was rather clumsy and messy kiss. Both of them fighting for dominance. Teeth colliding. Heads knocking together. Zayn had his hands firmly around the sides of Liam’s face, and Liam had grabbed onto Zayn’s shirt and pulled so hard that the material around the collar ripped. And as Zayn sucked on Liam’s bottom lip, Liam thought he was going to melt because his skin felt like it was on fire.

And as soon as the kiss started, it was over. They both jumped away from one another, shocked at what had taken place. They stared at each other silently for about a second. Then, Liam quickly left the shuttle without exchanging another word.

He didn’t go back to the game after that. Instead, he decided to spend some time alone in the bridge. It wasn’t long before Dani entered, and sat down on her pilot chair, jolting Liam out of his thoughts about what had happened earlier.

“You missed an interesting game.” She informed him. Liam smiled softly.

“Yeah? It looked pretty predictable when I left.” Dani shook her head.

“Not so much the hoop game, but the other stuff happening. Louis doesn’t have a subtle bone in his body does he?” Dani giggled. “Too bad, it seems Josh isn’t really interested.”

“Oh? Did he tell you that?” Liam asked.

“No, but I can tell.” Dani shrugged. Liam suddenly felt bad for his friend. He hesitated for a few seconds for speaking up again. Debating whether to talk to Dani about Zayn. But then, who else could he turn to?

“Ahh….Dani? Can I ask you something and you promise me it stays between us?” Liam finally said. Dani nodded, a bit absentmindedly, concentrating on the digital tablet in front of her. “I may have kissed Zayn.” Suddenly Dani head snapped in Liam’s direction and her eyes widen.

“What? When? How? Huh?” Dani asked, frowning and looking very confused.

“Yeah, like a little while ago.”

“Like a spur of the moment thing or…has something else been going on.” Dani narrowed her eyes, still looking like she was trying to wrap her head around the piece of information that Liam shared with her.

“I don’t know. He just…” Liam really had no idea how to explain Zayn or whatever had been going on between them. Liam had thought it was mostly in his own head until the kiss.

“Oh, Liam this is kind of a bad idea.” Dani said sympathetically. Liam sighed and buried his head in his hands.

“I know.” He said so softly, that he wasn’t sure if Dani even heard him as she continued talking. “I mean, remember, he is not only a guest but a Companion-”

“What? That I’m not good enough-”

“No, I mean there is not a single scenario where this can end up a relationship.” Dani answered.

“Maybe I don’t want a relationship.” Liam shrugged. “Maybe I just want…you know…” He trailed off.

“I just don’t think you can do the whole hooking up with passengers and never see them again thing.” Dani replied, honestly. Liam grimaced. “Oh babe, you know I only want the best for you.”

Liam nodded, knowing Dani was only doing her best to look out for him. But there was no reason that Liam couldn’t handle it. Right? He tried to convince himself of that.

******************************************************************************

When he woke up the following day, Liam decided to avoid Zayn at least for the time being. He was really unsure of what he wanted and wouldn’t allow himself to be sucked into Zayn’s spell (that’s what Liam was calling it) until he knew exactly what he wanted. Fortunately, avoiding Zayn turned out to be pretty easy. He only saw him during meal time and briefly walking about while Liam was busy with his work. It was evening time when Liam just couldn’t pretend anymore. He was technically off duty, sitting in alone his bunk thinking about the kiss. He embarrassed to admit that he was getting aroused just thinking about it. It was completely new to Liam, the way their lips had collided with such foreign passion and hunger. Zayn’s hands, smell, touch, taste and even soft sounds that escaped his month had completely ingrained themselves into Liam’s consciousness. It was almost as if the kiss had amplified all of his senses. Even now, he could feel them.

He finally got up from his bed, and left his bunk with one goal and destination in sight. Zayn’s shuttle. He really didn’t have a larger plan in the works. He only hoped that he didn’t need one. Once he arrived in front of the shuttle doors, he buzzed to be let in. It took a little while for Zayn to open the door, though once he did it was obvious why.

Zayn, who was usually elaborately dressed, was wearing simple loose black pants and a white t-shirt. His hair, which is almost always styled, sat flatly on his forehead making his eyes look even bigger and deeper. Liam could tell he had been painting because his clothes were covered in paint stains. His expression was unreadable, though he was standing to the side of the door, almost voicelessly letting Liam inside. Liam walked through the doors and into Zayn’s shuttle again.

“I kind of wanted to talk about yesterday.” Liam thought being honest was probably the best way to go.

“Yesterday?” Zayn asked. His voice displayed no emotion, which made Liam even more nervous than he already was.

“You know…” he sighed. He knew Zayn was going to make him say it. “About how we kissed.”

“Kissed?” Zayn asked again still expressionless. At this point, Liam got a little pissed off. At the very least he could acknowledge what had happened.

“Yes, Zayn we kissed.” He replied angrily. “Can you drop the fucking attitude for a minute? Remember it was right here.” He pointed roughly around the area they had kissed. All he got in return was a bored expression from Zayn.

Liam looked down at ground for second and then decided to throw caution to the wind. He quickly closed the distance between them and roughly pressed his lips on Zayn’s lips again. He half-expected to be pushed back, but once their lips touched, Zayn swiftly wrapped his arms around Liam pushing their bodies together. Liam placed one of his arms around Zayn’s waist and the other hand rested on the back of Zayn’s neck, also pulling him in. The kiss was similar to the one they shared the day before. Rough and wild. (Thankfully, they managed to avoid teeth collision this time.)

Then suddenly, Zayn was taking control. He turned Liam around, without parting, and shoved him against the wall near the door he had entered through. Liam let out a small groan as his feet hovered over the ground and Zayn pressed his body against him. He broke the kiss for a second and slipped his tongue in Liam’s month, who readily welcomed it. They kissed like that for a minute longer, just enjoying the act. Zayn’s lips then began tracing Liam’s face with small pecks until he reached his neck. He sucked, bit and licked into side of Liam’s neck, which would surely leave a mark. Liam closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the moment, still in awe of the effect Zayn had on him. He felt like he was floating, and abandoned everything to let Zayn have control.

Zayn broke the kiss. He started walking backwards, grabbed onto Liam’s belt dragging him towards the bed. He pushed Liam on the bed, still facing each other and climbed on top of him. He sat on Liam lap, his knees on either side. Zayn hungrily began kissing him again. On his lips. The, on his jaw, while grinding against Liam’s crotch. Even between the layers they were wearing, Liam could tell they were both semi-hard.

Zayn pulled his hand away from Liam’s face and started traveling underneath Liam’s shirt, slowly pressing circle into the right side of his torso. Then, he roughly grabbed the ends of Liam’s t-shirt and started rolling it upwards. A second later Liam was shirtless. Zayn went back to kissing Liam’s neck, this time tracing his lips down his shoulders and then onto his chest. He licked and lightly bit Liam’s right nipple, which caused his to mouth moan and his body to jolt. Liam caught Zayn’s small smirk.

“Fuck. I love your chest.” Zayn mumbled. Liam wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear that, but it was the first compliment Zayn’s had ever uttered in front of him, so Liam will take it. Liam refused to entertain any rational thoughts at the moment. Zayn was a passenger. He was a Companion. He wasn’t even nice to Liam. None of that seemed to matter. Liam so desperately wanted him and didn’t even understand why. But he wasn’t bothered with why or any kind of logical right now.

Zayn continued kissing and licking Liam’s chest, slowing making his way down. He licked the crevasses of Liam’s abs and followed the narrow hair trail under Liam’s bellybutton. He pulled Liam’s pants down just a little, and teased him with kissing and biting the side of lower torso. Part of Liam needed Zayn to get on with it, feeling like he was ready to explode at any minute. The other part was completely satisfied with Zayn’s mouth all over his chest and torso.

Then, some of sort loud commotion–screaming–interrupted them. Zayn stopped, and looked at the door, almost panicked. They both got up out of the bed and Liam searched for his shirt. He found it soon enough and was out the door, with Zayn following him silently. Out in the common room, they could hear yelling which sounded like an argument and also screaming. Liam recognized the screaming voice. It was Eleanor, and it sounded like it was coming from the holding area. He ran as fast as he could opened the doors and stood onto up of the stairs for a second to take in the scene that was going on floor of the holding area.

Liam saw Ed pinned down by Josh, who was holding a knife against Ed’s neck. Niall was standing a short distance away from them, his rifle pointed at the two men on the floor. He also seemed to be acting as a shield, since Eleanor was standing behind him. Her face was red and tears were streaking down. She had covered her month with one hand, trying to stop herself from screaming. Louis was standing on the other side, yelling at the two men on the ground. Liam quickly climbed downstairs onto the floor.

“What is going on?” he demanded. Louis, Josh and Ed starting talking over one another. “Alright, everyone shut up.” He yelled. To his surprise, everyone did. “Eleanor, please explain to me what happened.” He looked at the trembling girl. She removed her hand from her month and looked back at Liam. Liam gave an assuring nod which seemed to calm her quite a bit.

“I came downstairs to pick up a couple of pulse beacons with Louis. To fix them, you know. I needed Louis to help carry a couple with me upstairs. We saw that Ed was already here. He was near Zayn’s things. Honestly, I didn’t see what the big deal it was. Then Josh and Niall came through the doors, and when Josh saw Ed near Zayn’s stuff, he just went ballistic. He grabbed him and shoved him to the ground…and then pulled out a knife and threatened to kill him.” Eleanor finished, with a lot of confidence and calmness in the voice than when she started.

“Who the fuck is he?” Josh demanded, referring to Ed. “I don’t believe he is just another passenger.”

“He _is_ just a fellow passenger.” Louis said, sounding like he had already given Josh the answer before.

“Josh, get off Ed. Now.” Liam commanded. Josh didn’t move. He looked behind, to see that Zayn was looking fearful at the entire scene. Dani had also joined them, standing on the stairs just behind Zayn.

Louis seemed to be losing patience.

“Honestly, Josh what the fuck are you doing?” Louis asked. Josh seemed so different at that moment. A far cry away from cheerful, agreeable person they had gotten to know over the last couple of days. Louis, frustrated with no answers, moved towards the area where Zayn’s luggage was.

“What the hell is in here that you are willing to kill for?” Louis eyed the metal box Zayn brought on board.

“Or die for.” Niall said quietly, still pointing the gun at Josh. Liam saw Louis was looking at the bottom of the box.

“It is leaking.” Louis muttered, confused. He pressed what looked a button on the top of the box, unlocking it. The top panel of the box sprung up slightly.

“No, don’t!” Zayn yelled. But Louis was already tearing off the top completely.

“What the fuc-” Louis didn’t complete the sentence, as _something_ pop up from the box.

Everyone stared at the thing that was half-inside and half-outside Zayn’s box. It was a boy. He was covered in some sort of goo. And he was screaming his lungs out. And shaking.

Zayn pushed Liam out of the way, and ran towards the screaming boy. But before he could get there, the boy, who was apparently naked, jumped out and grabbed onto Louis, who was still standing there looking completely shocked. Getting his senses back, Louis also began to yell.

“Get it off of me. Get it off!” The boy didn’t seem to notice as he continued to scream. He grabbed on Louis’s right leg, and sat on the floor hiding behind it. His brown hair was wet and his skin almost deathly pale. Louis tried to get his leg back, but the boy had wrapped his arms around it and pressed up against it as if it was the only thing saving him from complete doom. That was position he was in when Zayn got near him. He fell on his knees, and looked at the screaming boy.

“Harry. Harry. It’s me. It’s Zayn. Harry stop. You are safe. You are here with me.” Zayn said, his voice filled with care and concern. He reached out to touch the boy, but the boy shoved it away, still shaking back and forth.

“No. No. Please stop! Not real. NOT REAL.” The boy stopped yelling, and through his tears he managed to sputter out that sentence. Zayn shook his head.

“I’m really, babe. I’m real. You not at the academy anymore. You are out. Remember? Josh got you out?” Zayn said soothingly. He reached out for his hand but the boy didn’t take it, still grabbing onto Louis’s leg, which was by now covered in the same goo. Louis was slowly trying to get a distance between the boy and him, even though one of his legs was still stuck with the boy.

“No. No. I _know_. I’m smart. I _know_!” the boy yelled, still crying.

“Harry-Berry please.” Liam heard Zayn’s voice crack. He was nearly crying as well. The boy-Harry-finally looked Zayn in the eye. He stopped crying and took a quick look around to take in his surroundings. Though still shaking, he was beginning to calm down a bit.

“Remember when we snuck into the Atherton’s party and ate all their freshly grown mangoes.” He asked Zayn. Zayn frowned for a moment.

“No, babe. That never happened.” Zayn replied. It was only then that Harry let go of Louis leg (who quickly ran to the other side of the holding area) and took Zayn’s hand which was still extended towards him. Zayn pulled Harry in for a tight embrace, and Harry buried his face in Zayn’s shoulder, softly crying.

Liam felt tugging at his side. When he looked up at her, Dani had a blanket in her hands. He grabbed in out of her hands, and took it to Zayn and the boy. They were still wrapped around one another, with Zayn rubbing his back soothingly. He handed Zayn the blanket, who took it without looking directly at Liam.

Liam turned around, already thinking about a couple of decisions he’d made. “Niall and Dani, take Ed back to his room. Make sure he stays there. Eleanor, go back to your work. Josh, Louis, Zayn and I will deal with our new guest.” He made the speech with such authority that no one disagreed. They scattered, off to do exactly what he told them to do. Dani led Ed upstairs, with Niall following. Eleanor grabbed what she had come to get and left as well.

“We should take him to infirmary.” He told Zayn, who nodded in reply. Zayn grabbed Harry and pulled him to his feet. He then held him steady and placed his arm around his own shoulders. Josh moved to help him. Louis led the way, with Liam following the three guests.

The infirmary was as short distance from the common room. It had a small waiting area shaped like an L, with the main infirmary behind glass doors. Inside the glass doors was a medical bed similar to the one’s found in hospitals. It was attached to a general medical machine. Off to the side was another bed. The rest of the room had cabinets with first aid equipment. It wasn’t much, but basic care could be provided.

Zayn and Josh placed Harry on the main bed. Louis sat on the couch in the waiting area, watching through the glass doors. Liam took out ECG pads, attached them on Harry’s chest and hooked them up to the machine in order to monitor Harry’s heart-rate. He then searched a couple of cabinets until he found another blanket. He handed that to Zayn, who was still talking soothingly to Harry, assuring him that he was in safe hands. His heart rate was low, but not dire Liam noted. Coming out of cryogenic freeze tended to do that, especially when someone is shocked out of it like Harry was. It wasn’t anything too alarming. Liam knew that Harry should be fine in a couple of hours.

Liam exited the main infirmary, indicating Josh to follow him. Once they joined Louis, Louis began grilling Josh.

“What is going on? Who the hell this that? Are you human traffickers? You smuggle people?” Louis demanded not really waiting for answer. Josh hesitated.

“Answer the questions.” Liam said firmly. His voice was calmed, but his tone indicated that he was as angry as Louis. Josh shook his head. Liam couldn’t help but notice that Josh’s entire demeanor had changed. Whereas before he used to look like a relaxed carefree man, he was now acting like a tense, cold and distant person.

“It isn’t my story to tell.” Josh finally said looking back at the two people across the glass. Louis opened his mouth to protest, but Liam interrupted him.

“Fine. Then tell us who you are. Because no one really believes you are an assistant to a Companion.” Josh shook his head again. “You seem to think you have a choice in the matter. You scared my crew and pulled a knife on my passenger. Answer the damn question or you’ll be getting off this ship before we even get to Jiangyin.” Josh seemed to be thinking for a minute.

“I’m only telling you this because you’re Browncoats.” Josh started. “I’m a member of the Red Moon.” Louis gawked at him, and Liam buried his head in his head. It was about the worst news they could have heard.

Red Moon was anti-government organization. It was actually declared a terrorist group by Alliance. They were fundamentally against Alliance rule and did everything they could to undermine the government. Most members of the group were former Browncoats. And harbouring a member of the organisation was punishable by death.

“Is Zayn a member too?” Liam asked carefully.

“No.” a voice came from behind him. Zayn was now standing in the waiting area. Liam could see Harry had dozed off behind the glass doors. “I didn’t lie. Not really. I’m a Companion.”

“You failed to mention smuggling people as a side hobby.” Louis pointed out. “Why do you have a boy in a box?” Zayn looked at Josh, who just shrugged. He hesitated a little, then looked at Liam and seemed to make a final decision after that.

“Harry is my best friend. We grew up together on Ariel. When we were fourteen, Harry received an acceptance letter to a new prestigious Alliance school for gifted students. It was supposed to be the premiere school in all the universe. Harry left his home to attend the academy. I soon left to go to Sihnon for Companion training. We kept in touch a lot at first. Send letters, talked on the wave and he even came to see me a few times. But in the last couple of years….something strange started happening. Every time I invited him to come to Sihnon, he would make up an excuse. He started acting really strange on our calls, and stopped writing altogether. Then, everything stopped. No communication whatsoever.” Zayn stopped speaking to catch his breath.

His shook his head, and looked back at Harry through the glass doors. “I left Sihnon to go back to Ariel. I was so afraid something had happened to him. I tried to see him a couple of times but the academy claimed that he was busy with an important experiment and couldn’t speak with me. I tried to talk to his parents, and my parents. But they didn’t believe me. Then, Josh approached me.” He looked up at Josh, who nodded and took over from Zayn.

“We’ve had been tracking Zayn ever since he first contacted the academy. We had suspected that they were doing something to some of the students there. Not exactly sure what, but some sort of experiments. They were just rumors, but Zayn believed them. With the help from a few other members of the Red Moon, we managed to sneak into the facility where they kept Harry and got him out. We knew Alliance would be looking for him, so we had to get far away from the central planets as possible. We really didn’t know if we could trust anyone else, so we put Harry in a cryogenic freeze box and smuggled him onto the ship.”

“So the Alliance is looking for him?” Louis inquired, his eyes widening with fear.

“Well, not publically. I mean there is no arrest warrant or anything because Harry isn’t a fugitive. But privately, yeah.” Josh answered.

“And you or Zayn?” Louis pointed at the two men standing in front of him. Josh shook his head, and Zayn shrugged.

“They don’t know me. And the academy may suspect Zayn had something to do with it, but they can’t prove anything.” replied Josh, though it sounded like speculation to Liam. The Alliance could do whatever they wanted.

“But why are you heading to St. Albas?” Liam asked evenly, trying to make sure that his voice didn’t reveal any emotion. The planet seemed like a strange choice.

“It wasn’t the final destination. We are supposed to meet a few other Red Moon members there. They will take us to Haven.” Haven was a small planet on the outer rim. Pretty isolated and good for hiding.

“Is there anything else you’ve left out?” Louis asked. Both Josh and Zayn shook their head. Liam sighed. He looked at the sleeping boy on the bed and back at Zayn. He tried to remain calmed, but he was brimming with anger.

“Louis, stay here with Josh. Zayn, bridge, now.” Liam said exiting the room, almost demanding Zayn to follow. He didn’t care if Zayn wanted to stay with his friend. He needed answers, more answers. After a second, he saw out the corner of eye that Zayn was following him to the bridge. When they got there, Liam shut the door, and turned around to face Zayn.

Once they were alone, Liam didn’t even know where to start. He was so angry. Zayn sat on the co-pilots chair, looking tired, scared and nervous. Such a far cry from how he usually looked.

“I want to know everything. Everything you left out in the speech back there.” Liam shouted. He couldn’t control his anger anymore. Zayn sort of jumped at Liam’s loud voice. He sniffed, trying not to cry.

“It is my fault.” Zayn confessed softly, looking intently at his shoes and avoiding Liam’s gaze.

“What?”

“Going to the academy. We both received letters. My parents wanted me to go, but I decided to leave for Sihnon. To be a Companion. Because I’m such an asshole.” Liam was confused. Zayn’s explanation didn’t make sense. Before he could ask, Zayn went on.

“When we were fourteen, I told Harry that I was in love with him. But Harry didn’t feel the same way, and he told me. He was actually really great about it. But I was such a dramatic bitch. I couldn’t handle staying on Ariel, seeing Harry every day and not _be_ with him. So, like the coward that I am, I ran. If we’d been together, I could have looked out for him. I would have seen the signs earlier and we could have gotten out together.” _Or you’d both be stuck in the academy right now_ , Liam thought. But Zayn’s confession didn’t illicit any sympathy from Liam.

“You brought on a member of a terrorist organization on MY ship. You endangered lives of my crew and my passengers and lied to my face.” Liam shouted at Zayn. “What if we had been stopped by the Alliance, huh? We’d all be dead by now!” Liam paced around the bridge. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Josh and Zayn had put them in so much danger.

He began to think back to the conversation they had had in the kitchen when Zayn had casually asked about the rest of the crew. Liam shook his head in disbelief realizing how he had been fooled. Zayn wasn’t interested in the crew. He only wanted information about their past and what they were capable off. And Liam had played right into Zayn’s hands, giving him all the answers on a silver platter. Then, he remembered…

“And what about that? That in your shuttle! Was that part of the plan? Distract the Captain so he doesn’t know what is going on?” he demanded. Zayn eyes widen.

“No. No. That wasn’t part of the plan. No. You have to believe me.” Zayn actually leapt from his chair, extending his hand to Liam. Liam smacked it away.

“I don’t. Get out.” Liam said, coldly. Zayn tried to look at him directly, but Liam turned away. After a couple of seconds of silence, Zayn walked out of the bridge. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of this chapter are based on Firefly episode, ‘Serenity’ so credit to Joss Whedon.
> 
> Red Moon isn't from Firefly. I made that up (though the show alluded to anti-Alliance organizations.)
> 
> (Yes, the first kiss was inspired from Cordy/Xander first kiss. I can’t help it. Love that scene.)


	5. Homecoming Part I

Liam Payne didn’t care for Harry Styles very much. Harry was…too tall. Yes. That was the reason. It had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the fact that Zayn had his arms wrapped around the new guest, who in return was leaning and resting his head on the Companion’s shoulder. Their bodies meshing into one another as Zayn quietly read the menu to the other boy, stroking Harry’s back and talking gently. Liam internally scolded himself for being jealous.

The crew and their passengers were gathered around a table at Titania Bar in Liam’s hometown on Jiangyin. Well, almost everyone. Eleanor had been picked up by her brother and taken to her parents’ house a little while earlier. It was late afternoon, and Louis had insisted on having lunch before starting on any work that they had to do. Liam had wanted to protest but everyone was pretty enthused about the idea, so he remained silent.

The owner of the bar had known Liam since he was a child so cold beer and warm snacks were served as soon as they walked in. It was no wonder the rest of the crew liked coming to Liam’s hometown. Everyone was extra friendly to them, due to Liam.

Being back in his hometown, Liam couldn’t help but wish they had found another alternative. Jiangyin was a small border planet, which had been loyal to the Browncoats. It was mostly a rural, sparsely populated rock, with very little to offer. Liam felt a little guilty thinking about his home in such a way but he couldn’t really help it. He felt suffocated and on edge every time he returned. And Zayn’s presence wasn’t helping matters.

He had managed to avoid Zayn completely since their conversation in the bridge, only getting updates from Louis about how Harry was coming along. Apparently, Zayn had practically moved in the infirmary and was spending every moment taking care of Harry. According to Louis, the Alliance really ‘fucked him up.’ From his tone, Louis seemed far less angry than he had been earlier. Liam couldn’t help be a little resentful at his friend for being so easily swayed into sympathizing them.

He quietly watched everyone around the table chat, munch on snacks, generally get along and actually act like nothing had happened. Ed explained that he had only gone close to Zayn’s luggage because he saw that the box was leaking and profusely apologized to the three of them. Later, he confessed to Dani that he had only gone downstairs to check on the meds. So essentially, everyone was back to normal. It made him feel isolated because he was _not_ interested in forgetting what happened any time soon.

Liam was still quite weary of having Harry on board, considering the danger he brought with him. But what other choice did he have? Leave them to be captured up the Alliance again? No, Liam knew he couldn’t do that. So, the simplest solution was to go back to Josh’s original plan: to be dropped off on Saint Albas and let Red Moon take care of them. As far as the Alliance was concerned, Liam still hadn’t wrapped his head around the experiments. He knew that they were oppressive when it came to the outer planets, but experimenting on core planet citizens was unheard of and particularly cruel. All the more reason to stay out of the situation as much as possible.

Liam begrudgingly watched everyone fawn over Harry, who was actually looking a lot better. Colour had returned to his skin, and he was able to communicate adequately now.

“Are you doing better now, Harry? Enough to be moved in one of guest room? Or you want to make the infirmary your permanent room?” Dani asked. Harry looked over at his friend before responding.

“I like… the walls, and glass.” Harry’s voice was a lot deeper than Liam’s expected. He was also taller, which Liam hadn’t noticed in all the commotion. He had a mop of brown curls that sat unruly around his head, and piercing green eyes. And though he and Zayn were the same age, his soft features made him look younger.

“Well, there is no rush. Fortunately, we’ve never had to use it much.” Dani replied.

 “Feels safe.” Harry added. Dani nodded, understandingly.

After everyone had ordered food, Louis began telling some story about the last time the crew had been on Jiangyin. Liam tuned everything out. He quietly watched his crew laugh and chat with Ed, Josh, Harry and Zayn. After a while, he decided he couldn’t really take it anymore. He muttered something about getting inventory they needed. Louis protested and pointed out that he had just ordered his food. Liam lied and said he wasn’t hungry. Niall offered to come along, but Liam declined.

He needed to get out of here. Away from _ZaynandHarry_ and off this planet.

He exited the bar and climbed back in the jeep. But before he could drive off, Zayn was standing in front of him. He sighed. _The universe is conspiring against me_ , he thought.

“What?” Liam asked, sound harsher than he intended.

“I need to get a few things too.” Zayn said simply.

“Just tell me, and I’ll get them.” Liam replied, absolutely not wanting to ride around town alone with Zayn. Zayn shook his head.

“No they are specific things. I need to get them myself.” Zayn claimed. Then, without waiting for Liam to protest any further, he climbed into the passenger seat. Liam resigned himself to Zayn’s company as he started to drive. The drive was in complete silence.

First, Liam had to stop by the mechanic shop to setup a fuel appointment. He found that James, the owner and Eleanor’s dad, was in working today. They exchanged greetings. James has been friends with Liam’s parents and would only allow Eleanor go to off on the ship because he trusted Liam so much. Knowing this, he made sure to stop by every time he was back in his hometown.

“I didn’t think you’d be here.” Liam said, honestly. “Seeing that Eleanor is back.”

“Yeah. I’m heading back home soon.” James replied. “You don’t bring her back often enough.”

“I’ll try harder.” Liam assured him.

“Are you heading to the farm?” he asked. James was referring to the farm Liam’s parent used to own, which now belonged to his aunt and uncle. Liam hadn’t planned on it, but now that James mentioned it, he was feeling guilty about it.

“Oh, well…” Liam hesitated.

“It would be nice. Your uncle was sick a couple of weeks back. Would like to see their nephew you know.”  That pretty much sealed it. He had to go see them. He thought about heading there straight away, but since Zayn was in the car, he decided to wait until after the errands were done and he’d dropped Zayn off back at the bar. He was _not_ going to his farm with Zayn.

Next, they stopped to pick up supplies from the local stores. Zayn apparently had to get a few essential things for Harry. Basic essentials like a toothbrush and extra socks. Apparently, Harry had also asked for notebooks and a few medical supplies he said he needed. Zayn got everything he could find for Harry, and then requested to be taken to a local art supply store. Liam scoffed.

“There are no art supply stores around here.” He told Zayn, who rolled his eyes.

“There must be something. I mean how can an entire town not have some _paint_.” Zayn asked, sounding surprised.

“This isn’t Ariel. We barely have enough for painting walls.” Liam said irritated. Zayn looked like he was getting mad.

“Just drive. I’ll find something.” Zayn demanded.

“No, I’m not wasting time driving around for something so superficial.”

“Just because _you_ don’t need something, doesn’t mean it is superficial to _me_.” Zayn retorted.

“You are the most spoiled, infuriating person I’ve ever met.” Liam muttered. Zayn sneered at him.

“Just drive.” Zayn basically ordered him again.

“I don’t have time to look for something that isn’t even here.” Liam tried to reason with him.

“How would you even know? We haven’t even tried looking.” Zayn protested.

“This isn’t Ariel. This isn’t some fancy central planet!” Liam finally lost his temper. Zayn look looked a little taken aback, but then his face changed to something resembling complete determination.

“Take me to a children’s shop or something. They’ll have something.” Zayn muttered, ignoring Liam’s clear frustration.

“No, they won’t.” Liam argued, knowing he now sounded like a child.

“Stop trying to boss me around. You aren’t my Captain.” Zayn said, also growing clearly irritated.

Liam gave up. He drove to the nearest kid’s shop he knew. He waited in the jeep as Zayn went inside. He was gone a while and came out carrying lots of bags, and a smug smile.

“I told you.” is all he said. He climbed back into the jeep, practically giddy. Liam realized that because the amount of time Zayn spent at the shop, he didn’t have enough to time to drop Zayn off at the bar and get to his farm. It would take too long to drive back all the way since they were already more than half way there.

“I have one more stop.” Liam told him. Zayn shrugged. And they drove.

******************************************************************************

The farm wasn’t too far out of town, but Liam drove fast. He didn’t know how long he was going to stay and still had his crew back at the bar. Though at this point, he wondered if they hadn’t already left. He won’t be surprised to learn that Dani and Louis had taken the rest of them around town. Probably gone to the local pool hall, as they usually did when they stopped in Jiangyin.

The ride, again, was mostly quiet. Zayn seemed to be intently staring at the scenery and avoided looking in Liam’s direction. It suited Liam just fine. If somehow he could convince Zayn to stay in the jeep while he in went inside, that would be great. Though, chances of that happening were slim. The scenery started to get even more familiar as Liam drove closer and closer to his old house. He stomach tensed as gripped the wheel so tightly that his knuckles whitened. Not only was he going back home, he had Zayn sitting next him.

“Where are we going?” Zayn finally spoke, as they turned into the rough road that led to Liam’s old house.

“I need to see my uncle.” Liam replied, keeping his answer short. Zayn didn’t say anything, but suddenly seemed very interested in his surroundings, turning his head and taking in the scenery. There was nothing but farmland on either side of the house, acres and acres of it. In between, stood a simple two story house. Liam parked the jeep on the small patch of paved gravel, which was basically the driveway, in front of the main door. He got out, not waiting for Zayn and climbed the few stairs leading to the door. He’d hoped that Zayn wouldn’t follow but then realized that he was right behind Liam. He knocked on the door and a minute later, his aunt opened the door.

“Oh my god! Liam.” She exclaimed. She was a short, slender woman, with shoulder-length blond hair. A warm smile appeared on her face as welcomed him with a hug. “You didn’t let us know you were coming!”

“Sorry Aunt Jen. I wasn’t sure if I would have the time.” Liam told her as they parted.

“That’s perfectly understandable, dear. Daniel will be so thrilled.” She looked so happy. Liam was beginning to feel guiltier and guiltier for almost leaving without visiting them.

It was only then she noticed Zayn standing behind him. At first, she had the same reaction that most people do when they see Zayn for the first time. Her eyes widen and a ‘oh wow’ smiled appeared on her face. Then, she looked expectedly at Liam to explain who Zayn was. Zayn was looking really amused. _Why couldn’t he stay in the car_?Liam thought begrudgingly.

“Oh, that’s Zayn. He just a passenger. We were running errands.” Liam kept the introduction as short as possible.

“Hello. Thank you for having me in your home.” Zayn politely greeted her. If she didn’t like him before, she was in love now.

“You are most welcome. Please come in.” She beamed at him, and led the way to the sitting room. She indicated them to take a seat, which they did. “You uncle hurt his back a little while ago. So, he is resting it bit. I’ll go get him.” As soon as she left the room, Zayn got up and started casually looking around the room. Liam wanted to tell Zayn to sit back down, but he knew Zayn wouldn’t listen, so he didn’t bother. Soon enough, his uncle appeared in the doorway. Liam quickly stood up to greet his father’s brother. He was tall, strong man, especially for his age, with short brown hair, though they were greying and round brown eyes almost exactly like Liam’s.

“It is great to see you. It has been too long.” His uncle excitedly said, taking a seat next to Liam. Liam nodded. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Liam replied. It wasn’t untrue. He did miss his aunt and uncle. It just he hated coming back here. Liam introduced Zayn to his uncle and his aunt brought some snacks to eat. They chatted for a while and to his surprise, Zayn was actually quite nice, and attentive with both.

“Where are you from Zayn?” Aunt Jen asked him. Liam looked over at Zayn, who appeared to be a little nervous at the question.

“I’m from Ariel.” He eventually said, after a short pause. Both of them looked surprised at the answer.

“We don’t get a lot people from the central planets around here.” Uncle Daniel said. “Are you going far?”

“To Saint Albas.” He answered, carefully. “Travelling with a friend.” Zayn added.

“Oh, that’s lovely. Cold. But I’m sure you and your friend will love it.” Aunt Jen nodded approvingly. “Be careful around the mountains. It can get dangerous.” She stopped for a second and shook her head, looking embarrassed. “Oh dear, I’m sounding like a mum. Sorry.” Zayn smiled.

“No, it’s alright. We’ll definitely be careful.”

“It’s just, you know, we worry about Liam being out there.” She continued looking over at Liam, who was blushing now. “Sometimes, I forget he all grown up. I still remember Liam running out here as a child. And you forgot and think nothing has changed. But of course, now he is all grown up and can take care of himself. But we worry. So, be careful.” Zayn assures he will. She turned towards Liam.

“So are _you_ are keeping out of trouble? Being careful?” Aunt Jen asked Liam. Liam froze for a minute. She asked this question every time he visited, but he hadn’t had to lie before. Now, between Red Moon member, Harry, Badger’s henchman and stolen meds, he knew that there was no way he could tell her the truth.

“The usual, Aunt Jen.” Liam gave a small smile, hoping she didn’t catch onto the lie. Zayn, to his credit, remained expressionless.

 “I think we should get going.” He muttered standing up. They said their goodbyes and headed out. His aunt and uncle walked them to the door, making Liam promise to visit more often.

“You are welcome any time too, Zayn.” Liam’s aunt told him. Zayn nodded and politely thanked her. Figuring it was too late to go back the bar, Liam just headed back to Direction.

******************************************************************************

Liam was feeling tired and restless at the same time. He had been trying to sleep for the past hour and half, but couldn’t even manage to doze off a little bit. The events of the past couple of days kept repeating in his mind. Everything from taking Badger’s job, to the whole Josh/Harry/Zayn saga, to being back on his home planet. And of course, whatever was going on between him and Zayn. Plus, now the crew had decided to stay an extra day on Jiangyin because they were in need of more supplies. _I’m never getting off this rock_ , he thought sullenly. He finally decided to get up and make some coffee, because well he wasn’t going to sleep at all tonight anyway. On his way back from the kitchen (and despite his resolve to stay away), he popped by the infirmary. He saw that Zayn was sprawled on the sofa in the waiting area, with a sketchbook in hand. Harry looked like he was peacefully sleeping on the bed through the glass doors.

Even though it hadn’t been long, the infirmary and the waiting area looked like they had been lived in for quite some time. A couple of blankets and clothes were lying around. Open medical books were piled on top of one another. Around those books, there were also notebooks that looked like they were filled with data from the other books. Harry, Zayn and Josh were trying to figure out what was wrong with the boy, Liam guessed.

Deciding it was a bad idea, he quickly turned around to leave.

“Liam.” He heard Zayn say softly. Liam turned back around to see that he was sitting up, his feet off the sofa now and his sketchbook now closed.

“I just came to see if he was okay.” Liam told him, pointing at Harry and not entirely lying.

“He is…okay. Or as okay as he going to be after what they did to him.” Zayn finished after short pause. Out his usual clothes, Liam thought Zayn looked particularly unsure of himself. “You can finish your tea here.” Zayn added, sounding completely neutral.

_No, you march back to your bunk now!_ He ordered himself.

“Okay.” Liam walked over and sat down on the opposite end of the sofa, leaving as much space between them a possible. “It is not tea. It’s coffee.” He wasn’t even sure why he clarified. Zayn made a face at the mention of coffee. They sat in awkward silence for a while. Liam looking straight ahead and sipping his coffee and Zayn staring at him intently.

“Are you going to stop here again? On your way back I mean.” Zayn asked, out of the blue. Liam frowned, surprised at the question.

“Not planning on it.” Liam replied.

“You promised your aunt and uncle to stop more frequently.” Zayn pointed out.

“I don’t need you to remind me.” he said, coldly.

“You should.” Zayn insisted. Liam wanted him to drop the subject, but more than anything, he didn’t want to let on how the whole homecoming affected him. That was until Zayn said, “It is your home.”

“No, it isn’t.” Liam snapped. Zayn frowned, looking confused. “Not anymore.”

“Why?” Zayn asked, sounding bewildered. He probably saw nothing wrong with the house, the farm and Liam’s aunt and uncle. Other than the fact that it was a farm because, let’s face it, he is a total snob.

Liam lets out an exhausted sigh and then shrugged, trying to sound blasé. “It looks like the place I grew up but it doesn’t feel like it. Not after the war. That’s the worst part. It _should_. But it doesn’t. Just reminds me… you know…there is no going back. Everything’s changed.” He wasn’t even sure why he told something so personal to Zayn.

“At least it is something.” Zayn said, after a moment of silence. Liam nodded, realizing that Zayn probably won’t be seeing _his_ home any time soon. If ever.

“Why do you want to know?” Liam asked. “If I would be stopping again.” He clarified.

“Oh, I wanted to give them something.” Zayn explained. Liam raised his eyebrows in surprised. “I’ll give to you before we get off at Saint Albas.” Liam looked away and nodded.

Another moment of silence followed.

“Are you ever going to talk me again?” Zayn finally breaks the silence. Liam got what he meant. He hadn’t really planned on it, which is not to say he hadn’t thought about it. Of course, Liam had fantasized that none of the Harry stuff had happened. That they’d had continued with what they were doing before the interruption. And then miraculously, Zayn would decide not to get off at Saint Albas because he didn’t want to leave Liam. He felt like such an idiot for even thinking like that.

“We never really talked. Not even before Harry.” Liam pointed out, still avoiding looking at Zayn.

“Yeah, we did.” Zayn disagreed, almost offended.

“We fought. That’s not really talking.”

“Yes it is.” Zayn replied, indignantly. Liam finally turned to look over to see Zayn expression had changed to a cocky smirk.

“Why?” Liam finally asked, looking at him directly. He was finally done with Zayn’s attitude. He would like to believe that it wasn’t part of the plan. He would like to believe that Zayn actually wanted him back. But there didn’t seem to be _any_ indication of that. Zayn had never given Liam a reason to believe him. All he got from Zayn was his haughty attitude, cocky smirks, a few stolen and inexplicably kisses. “If I wasn’t part of the plan, then why did you kiss me?” _And nearly blow me_ , he thought but didn’t say.

“Because I wanted to.” Zayn explained casually, with a shrug.

“But why?” Liam repeated himself, still confused. Also, he didn’t like Zayn’s casual tone. Maybe Zayn was used to kissing people without so much as a second thought, but Liam wasn’t.

“What do you want me to say, Liam?” Zayn asked his voice on edge.

“The truth. I’m just sick and tired your games. Do you…like me?” he asked, feeling silly. _Like_? He thought he sounded like a twelve year old. But what other word could he use that was neutral enough to gage Zayn’s feelings without assuming anything more. Zayn scoffed and looked away. Liam sighed out of frustration. He needed to Zayn to say _something_. Or do _something_.

Liam, now irritated, stood up to leave, until heard the next word out of Zayn’s mouth.

“Maybe.” Zayn’s voice came out hoarsely. When Liam turned around, Zayn was looking panicked. When he realized that Liam had stopped walking and wasn’t leaving, Zayn seemed a bit more relieved. Then, he lowered his head, staring intently at the sketchbook resting on his lap.

“I like that you care about your crew. I like that you defended them in the kitchen that night. I like that you help them out with things you don’t have to, whether it is doing dishes or repairs with Eleanor. I like that you’d spend a whole evening setting up a game of hoop so your friend could flirt with Josh. Mostly, I like that you haven’t kicked us off even though we lied. Oh! And I like your chest. Even if you are kind of a pushover sometimes.”

Zayn looked up just in time to see Liam disappear out the door.

******************************************************************************

Louis walked into the common room expecting the crew to be up and about, but found the place pretty empty. Liam should have been cooking breakfast, and the rest of the crew and passengers should have been sitting around the table eating. Instead, he found Dani sitting on the couch sipping tea and no one else around.

“What is going?” he demanded walking over to Dani. She looked up at him and shrugged. “Where is Liam? Did something happen to him? Was he kidnapped by hill-folk?”

“He is still sleeping in his bunk.” Dani replied. Louis eyes widen. He couldn’t remember the last time Liam slept in. He supposed Liam deserved it once in a while, but that didn’t solve his breakfast problem.

“But breakfast…” he whined. Dani made a face.

“Make it yourself.” Dani said pointing at the kitchen.

“No, I can’t without Liam.” He huffed. “It just… won’t feel right, you know?”

“Yeah, doing most of the work…won’t feel right.” Dani mocked him good-naturedly.

“Exactly, you know me so well…” Louis plopped down on the couch next to her. He saw Harry walking in looking like he had just literally rolled out of his bed. He was wearing his blanket around his shoulders and his hair sat upon his head in a complete mess. His face looked puffy and his eyes were barely open. He wordlessly sat down next to Louis, looking at him expectedly. Probably for breakfast.

“Sorry Harry, it seems we won’t be getting any food today.” Louis informed him. Harry looked confused. “Apparently, Liam can’t do his job. We have to starve now.”

“Stop being so dramatic. Either make something or…” Dani trailed off because Josh entered the room with a loud, “I’m starving!”

“Great. You’ll fit right in.” Louis muttered. Now Josh looked confused.

“Liam is still asleep. I don’t cook and Louis is too lazy.” Dani explained. Josh shrugged, like it was no deal big.

“No problem. I can make us some breakfast.” Louis actually beamed at Josh’s offer.

“I knew I had great taste!” he clapped happily. Josh smiled back at him. Then, he wondered into the kitchen, and soon after Louis heard some sort of preparation going on. He looked over at Harry, who was watching Josh doubtfully.

“You are too young to be so jaded Harry. Josh will do great!” But when Josh came out of the kitchen a little while later, the breakfast resembled nothing like it was supposed to.

“What is that?” Louis said staring at…basically mush in a bowl. Josh, however, was digging in eagerly. Harry peered over to take a look at the bowl. Once he saw it, he moved behind Louis, looking scared of the mush, like it was going to attack him or something.

“Right, I’m going out for breakfast.” Louis announced. “Wanna come?” He asked Harry, who gingerly nodded, still looking scared of the bowl.

“You could wait for Liam to wake up, but whatever.” Dani muttered. Louis was already thinking about where they can get some decent breakfast, not that there were many choices in town. He told Harry to get dressed, while he looked around to see if anyone else was interested in going out of breakfast.

By the time he and Harry were dressed and ready to leave, it seemed that no one was wanted in accompanying them. Zayn, Liam and Ed were still sleeping. Niall and Dani had work they needed to get done.

Josh, on the other hand, seemed hesitant to let Harry go.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.” Louis assured him.

“We didn’t have any issues yesterday, so it should be fine, I guess.” Josh said. “But breakfast and straight back here. No detours.” Louis smiled and nodded.

They climbed down to the holding area, and Louis made an attempt to walk towards the jeep, but Harry stopped him.

“Let’s walk.” He suggested. Harry had not really asked for anything before, so Louis was a little surprised. But, since it seemed like a nice day, he agreed. It took them some time to reach the town, and then they settled on the first open restaurant they saw. At this point, it was more of an early lunch, but Harry seemed happy to be out and about under the sun, so Louis didn’t really complain. He already felt pretty sympathetic towards Harry because of what the Alliance had done to him.

Plus, he seemed to getting more and more comfortable as time passed, which could only be a good thing according to Louis.

When they got there, they ordered simple meals. And as the waiter left, Louis couldn’t help but notice how different Zayn and Harry were despite having similar backgrounds.

“The food okay for you, Harry?” Louis asked, thinking back to Zayn’s attitude about the food on his first day on Direction. Harry, who was absentmindedly staring at the window beside him, turned to face Louis.

“Food is good.” He said simply. Louis nodded, still unsure of what exactly Harry meant.

“Well, it not Atherton’s mangoes…but it is decent.” Louis pointed out, with a sly smile. Harry frowned at first, and then relaxed understanding what Louis had meant.

“We used to sneak _out_ of those parties. Never in.” Harry explained. “We wouldn’t wait for the food to be served. We would just run out.”

“Then why-”

“When they…put things in my head…they made me think that my parents were there…or Zayn. Make me see things, people…that weren’t…there. It wasn’t real.” Harry spoke slowly, still trying to find words to explain. “That’s why I asked, about the mangoes. The only person that knew that it was untrue was Zayn.”

Louis nodded. But his curiosity didn’t end there. If anything, it raised more questions.

“How many more were they? Do you know?” he asked. Louis knew that Liam and the rest probably wanted very little to do with what was going on, but he couldn’t help but be more curious. Alliance was evil, and the more he knew about what they were up to, the better.

Harry broke eye contact and shifted on his chair. “I don’t know. The place I was at…I think there were a couple of us. They tried to keep us… separated. There was a girl. A little younger than me. Seventeen, I think. We saw each other once in a while. She had been there… longer.” He clenched his teeth as his face turned red. He tried to blink back his tears. “I think she got it… the worst.” He finished, point to his temple.

“I’m sorry, Harry.” Louis reached over to sympathetically squeeze his hand.

“I just wanted to be smart.” Harry muttered, mostly to himself. “Wanted to learn.” The conversation ended there as their food arrived. Harry already looked shaken up, so Louis decided to avoid any more questions about the Alliance for the time being.

Once they finished eating, they had planned on walking back to the ship. But Harry got distracted by something. Louis tried to figure out what it was Harry’s eyes darted around, and he kept spinning. Then, he broke into a run in the opposite direction that they were heading in. Louis followed, screaming for Harry to stop and come back. Harry led Louis to some sort of an open green space. Kind of like a park. It was only then that Louis realized that Harry had been following music. There were a lot people gathered around, dancing, singing along watching some band on stage. Harry looked desperately at Louis, as if begging silently to go. He sighed and nodded. Then, he grabbed Harry’s hand and moved towards the gathered crowd.

“Keep close.” He told Harry, who obediently nodded. Louis led Harry to close as possible to the band. The kid seemed entranced by the mediocre music (according to Louis), but considering he had spent the last couple of years being experimented on by the Alliance, any music was probably welcomed. Louis didn’t expect Harry join in the little dance some of the people surrounding him were doing. But he caught on to the movements pretty quickly and in no time was moving with them to the music.

They stayed for a while, Harry enjoying the music and Louis making sure not to let him out of his sight. They had been gone for a while now. Louis was sure that the rest of the crew was expecting them to be back by this time. And he certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Zayn’s wrath if they had been gone for too long. So, he gently started dragging Harry away from the gathered crowd, back towards the way they came. But soon Louis realized that the path was different from the one they had come from. Instead, they were isolated on the outskirts of town, with nothing except the acres of grasslands and peaking hills in the distance.

“It will be okay.” Harry said, looking at Louis. As if reading his mind. Of course, it was at that exact moment Louis realized that they weren’t alone. Before he could react on his instinct, there was knife at his throat, and a gun barrel burying itself in his back.

“Move and you die.” He heard a menacing voice behind him whisper in his ear. He looked back at Harry and realized that another man had a rifle pointed at him as well. Before he could say anything comforting, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head and then saw nothing but darkness.

When Louis regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was cold. Then, he realized in was tied to a chair in what looked like someone’s bedroom. It was dark, with only a small lantern lighting the room. He quickly tried turning around to see if he could find Harry, only to realize that Harry was right behind him, their backs to each other. Harry was sitting on the other chair, also tied up.

“Harry? Harry? You awake?” He asked because he couldn’t see Harry.

“Yes.” Harry replied simply. He didn’t appear to be scared or nervous, which relieved Louis quite a bit.

“Did they knock you out too?” Louis asked. “Are you in any pain?”

“Yes. No.” Harry answered both questions. It took another second for Louis to understand exactly what Harry meant. Before Louis could figure anything else out, the door flew open, and an older man entered, with a couple of younger men at his side. He was dressed in worn out clothes, holding onto a rifle. The men at side were similarly dressed and also armed.

“Hello. I see that you are awake.” The older man spoke. He looked at least sixty, with wrinkled skin and short white beard. The words maybe not have been threating, but his tone was far from friendly.

“What do you want?” Louis asked carefully. He quickly assessed that they were locals and not Alliance, which helped dispel much of his panic.

“What do you think we want? You come here, on your fancy ship…with your fancy passengers….you don’t think we know? You don’t think people talk?” the older man spat out.

“We aren’t rich.” Louis tried to explain this to the other man, who was now pointing his rifle directly at Louis.

“Rich folk in a rich ship say they aren’t rich.” He grinned, barely is crooked teeth. “I’m sure your Captain won’t want anything happening to you both.” He motioned one of the men at his side. The younger man quickly moved towards Louis. Louis tensed up, not knowing exactly what the younger man was about to do. He saw that the rope around his wrists was being loosed. He took his arms out of the knots and relaxed his wrists. The older man handed him a paper and a pen. He then picked up the lantern and moved closer to Louis, settling behind him and next to Harry.

 “Write down exactly what I tell you.” Louis nodded, taking both items. The older man only instructed him to write a vaguely threating note about the kidnapping and the ransom demand, including a time and place for the exchange. Louis internally scoffed at the amount. There was no way they could afford it.

While Louis was writing, Harry was intently staring at the old man. Then he finally said, after careful observation, “Your eye is red.” The old man’s head snapped immediately to Harry.

“What did you say, boy?” he asked, suspicious.

“You eye is red.” He repeated. “You see coloured halos. Sorry.” The old man raised his right eyebrow, as he looked like he came to some sort of realization. He wordlessly pointed to one of the young men to tie Louis’s wrists up again, the men left him and Harry alone in the room.

“It is going to be okay Harry. It isn’t the Alliance.” Louis muttered reassurances for Harry’s benefit, though the other boy didn’t seem too scared. “We’ve just been kidnapped. By hill-folk.”

“Why?” Harry asked, sounding confused.

“Because the universe doesn’t think I’m funny.” He replied glumly, thinking back to what he said earlier that day. “Don’t be scared.”

“I’m not afraid. Of them.” Harry said, after a brief moment of hesitation.

“Are you afraid of something else?” Louis asked, now confused himself. Harry didn’t reply immediately. Pressed up next to Harry’s back, Louis felt him shudder a little.

“Ghosts.” Harry said eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kidnapping plot was obviously based on Firefly’s ‘Safe’ episode. So credit to the writer, Drew Z. Greenberg.

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is a bit of a retelling of Firefly/Serenity with different characters.


End file.
